GCC Ministerial Council Expresses Deep Concern over Recent Regional Escalation

Palestinian families inspect their destroyed houses in Al Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 15 April 2024, following Israeli air strikes. (EPA)
Palestinian families inspect their destroyed houses in Al Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 15 April 2024, following Israeli air strikes. (EPA)
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GCC Ministerial Council Expresses Deep Concern over Recent Regional Escalation

Palestinian families inspect their destroyed houses in Al Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 15 April 2024, following Israeli air strikes. (EPA)
Palestinian families inspect their destroyed houses in Al Maghazi refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 15 April 2024, following Israeli air strikes. (EPA)

The Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council expressed on Monday its deep concern over the recent dangerous military escalation in the region and its impact on regional security and stability.

The council held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the escalation. It met at the headquarters of the Qatari Embassy in Tashkent on the sidelines of the joint ministerial meeting between the GCC and Central Asian countries.

In a statement, the council stressed the importance of reducing the escalation immediately to maintain the security and stability of the region. It underlined the need for all parties to make joint efforts and turn to diplomacy as an effective way to resolve conflicts, while exercising the utmost levels of self-restraint, and sparing the region and its people the dangers of war.

The council called for the United Nations Security Council to fulfill its responsibility toward maintaining international peace and security, especially in this region that is extremely sensitive to global peace and security, and to prevent the crisis from worsening, which would have serious consequences if it expanded.

The council reiterated the firm position of the GCC regarding the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, demanding an immediate ceasefire and end to Israeli military operations, ensuring the provision of access to all humanitarian and relief aid and basic needs. It stressed the need of operating electricity and water lines and allowing the entry of fuel, food and medicine for the residents of Gaza.

The GCC underscored the need for the international community to adopt effective policies and measures to reach an immediate ceasefire, as the continuation of this aggression has repercussions on the security and stability of the entire region and the continuation of tensions there.

It also demanded an end to the escalation and acts of violence against the Palestinians in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including the city of Jerusalem and the Islamic holy sites, and to stop settlement activity, land confiscation and attempts to displace the Palestinians from their lands.

The council called for an international conference with the participation of all parties to discuss all issues related to the Palestinian issue and to reach a solution based on ending the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to relevant UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

The meeting was chaired by Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the current session of the Ministerial Council Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

It was attended by Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the United Arab Emirates Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Oman’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, Kuwaiti Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Ali Abdullah Al Yahya, and GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi.



UAE President Tells Rubio Rejects Displacement of Palestinians

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as they meet at ADNEC Center Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, on February 19, 2025. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as they meet at ADNEC Center Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, on February 19, 2025. (AFP)
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UAE President Tells Rubio Rejects Displacement of Palestinians

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as they meet at ADNEC Center Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, on February 19, 2025. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as they meet at ADNEC Center Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi, on February 19, 2025. (AFP)

United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan told visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday that Abu Dhabi rejected any displacement of Palestinians, official media said.

Sheikh Mohammed "affirmed the UAE's firm position rejecting any attempts aimed at displacing the Palestinian people from their land", the Gulf state's WAM news agency said following a US proposal to take over the war-battered Gaza Strip and move its inhabitants.

It added that the president "stressed the need for the reconstruction of Gaza to be linked to a path leading to comprehensive and lasting peace based on the two-state solution".

The Abu Dhabi meeting covered a range of regional and international issues of shared concern, with a focus on developments in the Middle East and the Palestinian Territory and ongoing efforts to address the crisis in Gaza, as well as its implications for regional peace, stability, and security.

Sheikh Mohamed and Rubio also discussed cooperation between their countries, as well as ways to further deepen ties across various fields in pursuit of their joint interests.