Qatar has emphasised that the ongoing Israeli aggression against Gaza, the eight-month genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinians, collective punishment policy, using food as a weapon of war, destroying cities and critical infrastructure, as well as attempts of forced displacement of Palestinians are considered grave violations of international law, international humanitarian law and the of International Atomic Energy Agency's mission in harnessing atoms for peace and development.
This came in a statement delivered by HE the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed bin Hassan al-Hammadi, who is also the Governor of Qatar to the IAEA, before the session of IAEA Board of Governors, currently held in Vienna, on the situation in Gaza and the Israeli threat to use the nuclear weapon.
HE Dr al-Hammadi affirmed that the IAEA's motto and sublime goal entail Atoms for Peace and Development, highlighting that the sublime goal will never be achieved without the rule of law in international relations, promotion of peace, respect for human dignity, coexistence, international partnership, and suppression of aggression.
Therefore, it behooves the international community to stand united to confront those who employ nuclear sciences and technologies for expansion and people's annihilation, he added.
HE Dr al-Hammadi noted the threat unleashed by the Israeli Minister of Heritage last November to drop a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip, describing it as an unequivocal expression of using atoms for devastation and annihilation and an explicit admission of that fact that Israeli really possesses nuclear weapons and is ready to use them against unarmed civilians whose lands have been occupied since 57 years ago, in a breach of the UN Security Council's resolutions No 242 and 338.
He called on Israel to pursue the example of South Africa, renounce the apartheid policies and abolish nuclear weapons immediately and forever, withdraw from the Arab territories that have been occupied since 1967, and accept the establishment of the independent Palestinian statehood with full sovereignty with East Jerusalem as its capital for peace to prevail both in the region and the entire world.
Additionally, HE Dr al-Hammadi called on the international community and relevant international organisations to demonstrate their ironclad support and ramp up pressures for Israel's admission to Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as non-nuclear state, in addition to eliminating its nuclear weapons.
Also, he urged the IAEA's policy-making bodies to give foremost priority to the implementation of numerous international resolutions pertaining to the elimination of Israeli nuclear weapons and establishing a nuclear-weapon-free-zone in the Middle East.
State of Qatar's statement is delivered by HE the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi, who is also the Governor of Qatar to the IAEA, before the session of IAEA Board of Governors.
