‘Collective genocide’ taking place in the region: Qatar
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani says what’s happening in the region is “collective genocide” and has warned of Israel’s “impunity” as it turns Gaza into an “uninhabitable place”.
“A two-state solution, the establishment of an independent viable Palestinian state within the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital is the key to a lasting peace in the region,” Qatar’s leader told a news conference at the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Doha.
“We call for serious ceasefire efforts in stopping Israel’s aggression against Lebanon,” he added.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sought to rally Asian countries to Iran’s side as he arrived in Qatar on Wednesday. He warned of a strong response from Tehran to any further Israeli actions against it.
Israel making ‘a terrible mistake’ by not using its ‘diplomatic arm’
Alon Liel, a former director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv that he would advise the Israeli government to start working with its diplomatic tools, not only military ones.
“The past year, especially the last few weeks in Lebanon, has proven that we have a solid and sometimes effective military arm, but I think this is the time to think about the other arm,” he said.
“A sad thing happened to the Israeli public because of the last year and the feeling here is that the whole world is against us, that the whole world is anti-Semite, especially the United Nations,” Liel lamented, adding “this was a terrible mistake” directed and encouraged by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We will not be able to stabilise the situation and live here safely without the support and assistance of the world,” he said.
Support for Israel creates sense that it ‘can do what it wants’
Richard Dalton, a former UK ambassador to Iran, says support for Israel from the West is working against de-escalating the conflict.
“It’s working against establishing a peaceful settlement across the region, whether within Palestine or beyond because it is creating this sense that Israel can do what it wants,” he told Al Jazeera.
“They can humiliate the United States. They can bank the military support from the United Kingdom and Israel’s European partners and not do anything to respond to the requirements of those countries that there should be progress towards Palestinian statehood as a prerequisite for peace,” he added.
Dalton said that public opinion in the West is turning against Israel due to how it has been fighting its wars.
“I believe that opinion has turned against Israel because of Israel’s action, because of Israel’s denial of basic human rights, because Israel’s denial that rights which it claims for itself should be accorded to others,” he said.
