Qatar participates in Brussels talks on Palestine

Qatar has taken part in the Meeting of International Partners of Palestine held in Brussels, Belgium, with the participation of Palestinian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dr Mohamed Mustafa.HE the Minister of State for International Co-operation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lolwah bint Rashid AlKhater, represented Qatar in the meeting, in the presence of Qatar's ambassador to the European Union and Nato, Abdulaziz bin Ahmed al-Malki.Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide chaired the meeting that was hosted by EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.The meeting featured high-level conversation between the international partners and the Palestinian Prime Minister on how the international community could enhance the capabilities of Palestinian institutions to prepare for establishing the State of Palestine.The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the State of Palestine presented a plan for economic reforms, given the challenges facing the Palestinian government, affirming that the government currently focuses on upgrading an overall plan for urgent relief and early recovery in support of 2.2mn Palestinians in Gaza.Dr Mustafa underscored the importance of providing financial allocations for over half a million Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip who have been unemployed since the start of the Israeli aggression, warning of the seriousness of the measures taken by Israel against the Palestinian banking institutions which ominously threaten to crumble the financial and economic institutions with major consequences as set out in the recent World Bank report.The ministers stressed the urgent need for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, unhindered access of humanitarian aid, and resuming the political process based on the international law.Most of the participating countries asserted that any solution or economic assistance for the Palestinian side would be futile, given the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, with Israel pursuing the policy of freezing the Palestinians' funds, in addition to demolition and devastation and halting the banking transactions with the continuous settlement measures.