Remarks by His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, during the Press Conference with His Excellency Mr. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America Doha – Friday, 13th October 2023

I am pleased to welcome my colleague His Excellency Mr. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America, to Doha. We meet today under critical and unfortunate circumstances, with the continuing escalations occurring in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of Gaza and Israel. We are all following these developments with great sadness and concern. My colleague and I engaged in frank and in-depth discussions on the matter, exploring both political and humanitarian dimensions of this crisis. During our discussion, I reiterated Qatar's firm position in condemning all forms of targeting civilians. I would like to stress that the killing of innocent civilians, especially children and women, and the practice of collective punishment policies, are unacceptable under any circumstance, and these condemnations should be directed at all parties concerned on an equal basis. From the very first day of the outbreak of the escalations, Qatar has sought to de-escalate the situation, achieve a complete cessation of hostilities, stop the bloodshed, and spare the region from the risk of slipping into an expanded violence. The people of this region are exhausted by ongoing wars and conflicts, and will only suffer the consequences of such events. Qatar's diplomatic priorities are to achieve an immediate ceasefire, protect civilians, ensure the release of prisoners, and work towards limiting the expansion of violence and the cycle of conflict in the region, which will inevitably result in serious consequences. We also exchanged views on ways to open humanitarian corridors in order to ensure access of humanitarian relief and assistance to our Palestinian brothers, who are trapped by the constant bombardments, especially in light of the deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip. In this regard, we note the tragic situation that we are witnessing in Gaza, including the shortages of basic materials and power outages due to the shelling of the Strip.

I am certain that we are all aware we are facing a difficult reality and a stage that requires concerted efforts and endeavors. Therefore, we stress the need to strengthen our efforts with fellow allies and partners, especially the United States of America, in order to calm the situation and spare civilians the consequences of such confrontations. We are convinced that the only way to reach a peaceful and immediate solution to this crisis is to keep all channels of communication open with all concerned parties, and that solving this crisis requires continuous and intensive cooperation. We also appreciate all ongoing regional, international and UN efforts towards de-escalating the crisis. The State of Qatar firmly believes in the importance of mediation and dialogue, and considers this an integral part of our foreign policy. Qatar has always sought to keep channels of communication open with various parties in various arenas of conflict, which has contributed to consolidating Qatar's international position as a reliable partner in peacemaking. We must stress here that Qatar’s commitment to its role as a partner in peacemaking and as a mediator in resolving disputes should not be exploited with accusations that aim to harm the reputation of my country, which have been proven to be false reflecting the bad faith of their distributors. We also stress that the absence of a just solution to the Palestinian issue will always accompany the absence of peace in this region. Accordingly, the international community should strive towards achieving a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue, within the framework of the Arab initiative, which guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and that the Palestinian brothers obtain their legitimate rights once and for all. We look forward to continuing to work with our US partners in our efforts to de-escalate the situation in the Occupied Palestinian territories and Israel, and to strengthen the security and stability of the region.

Q: The first question is from Al-Arabi TV. The first question is directed to His Excellency the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar. There has been a significant amount of media speculation. In fact, it has been reported that six billion dollars of Iranian assets have been frozen here in Qatar. How accurate are these reports? A: Regarding the question concerning the media reports about the freezing of Iranian funds deposited in Qatar, firstly, it should be stated that the State of Qatar is committed to any agreement that it is a part of, and no action is taken without consulting all parties involved. Although the funds currently in Qatar have not yet been utilized, we are confident that the terms of the agreement and its implementation are very clear. Our primary focus in the region today is to achieve de-escalation and put an end to the ongoing conflict affecting our brothers in Gaza, as well as seeking solutions that reduce escalation in the region and do not ignite further crises. Q: The second question is from AlJazeera. Hello, Your Excellency. I am Ahmed AlJassim from Al Jazeera. My question relates to the substance of the recent communications that have taken place since the outbreak of the crisis in Gaza. We have observed that Qatar was proactive in this regard, reaching out to a number of countries including Iran, the United States, Jordan, France, and others. What was the nature of these recent communications, and what did they focus on? A: Of course, in the past few days since the outbreak of the crisis, His Highness the Amir of Qatar has initiated a series of communications. I, too, have conducted some exchanges with colleagues. We have specific objectives at this stage. We are striving to de-escalate the current situation and hope to put an end to this war. Additionally, we aim to secure humanitarian corridors and ensure the passage of aid to Gaza. We are also addressing the issue of Israeli civilian prisoners, collaborating with our partners to facilitate their eventual return to their families. Qatar’s role is focused on finding solutions to this crisis, to halt its expansion, and to prevent engagement in further fronts. Our current priority is centered onachieving a cessation of hostilities, facilitating humanitarian assistance, and the repatriation of the prisoners to their homes. Q: The third question is from Reuters.. Sheikh Mohammed, given the condemnation from the world on Hamas attack, is Qatar considering shutting down Hamas bureau? Are you prepared to ask the leadership to leave if your Western allies demand you to do so? A: Regarding your question about Hamas’ political office in Doha, the office has been used as a way of communicating and bringing peace and calm to the region, not to instigate any war. Our key focus in Qatar, and I believe that the US shares this objective, is to find how to end this conflict; how to de-escalate; how to create human corridors; and how to get the hostages back safe. Q: The final question is from Bloomberg. Sheikh Mohammed, the US and Israel are both struggling with this tragic and fluid hostage situation that the Secretary was talking about, and have looked for Qatar to help navigate it. Can you tell us about your engagements with Hamas, and are you optimistic about getting these people back alive given reports that some of them may have already died in Israeli strikes on Gaza? And secondly, there have been rising criticism and protests across the Arab world as Israel’s retaliation continues, what’s your view of how Israel is conducting its military response? And are you worried about the potential for medium- and long-term consequences for what’s happening? A: Regarding your question about the progress on the hostage situation, actually it is very early to judge with the intensity of the war right now, how hopeful we are. But we are always hopeful to get those hostages back. I think the progress will be determined in the next few days, hopefully, and we will see if there will be a positive prospect for that. We are doing our best, our partners are doing their best, in order to get them released safely. On our views on the Israeli response in Gaza, we have seen the amount of devastation that has hit Gaza, which half of it now has been destroyed, and the number of people who have been killed throughout this operation is significant. We believe that human beings are human beings, everywhere, whether they are Israeli or Palestinians, they have the same value. This is painful for all of us. We would like to see international law applied here, and also the same standards that are applied to any war. We are trying our best to keep communication channels open in order to ensure that the humanitarian suffering does not continue, and moving ahead with the humanitarian passages for aid to be provided to them. We cannot deprive the people in Gaza from electricity, water, and medicine, and all other basic needs of life. We believe that the situation is very dangerous. On the future prospects of this, the entire situation is very worrying for the entire region. We believe that in the absence of a political horizon and hope for the Palestinians, this issue will keep on going unfortunately, so that is why we need to focus on how the day after will be dealt with and how we can create a political horizon and hope for the Palestinian people