ARAB LEAGUE SUMMIT ON GAZA SET FOR JANUARY 2 IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000888 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/28/2018 TAGS: PREL PHUM QA IS SUBJECT: ARAB LEAGUE SUMMIT ON GAZA SET FOR JANUARY 2 IN DOHA Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael A. Ratney, for reasons 1.4 (b, d). -------------- (U) KEY POINTS -------------- -- Qatar, following a round of telephone diplomacy by the Amir with his counterparts, will host January 2 an Arab League Summit that seeks to establish a common Arab position on the Israeli raids on Gaza. -- The Prime Minister of Qatar, in a press statement, said the Israeli "aggression" requires an Arab-Palestinian counter approach, and he called on the U.S. to act seriously and justly to solve the Israel-Palestinian dispute. -- Quoting an unidentified MFA official source, a Qatar News Agency dispatch condemned "the savage Israeli raids on Gaza and the genocide (sic) operations perpetrated by the Israeli forces." It also called on the international community, particularly the Quartet, to "shoulder its responsibility and...halt such aggression." -- According to press reports, three planes of urgent medicine and foodstuffs from Qatar charities for the Palestinians were scheduled to depart December 27 for Al-Arish Airport in Egypt. End Key Points. ¶1. (U) In a press statement carried by Al Jazeera television late December 27, Qatar's Prime Minister, Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, stressed the support of Qatar's Amir, Shaykh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, for an urgent Arab League Summit to establish a joint Arab position on the Israeli attacks in Gaza. Acknowledging the Amir's recent phone calls to other Arab heads of state, the Prime Minister added that a central aim of the Summit, subsequently scheduled to take place in Doha on January 2, would be to assist the Palestinian people to counter the Israeli siege and discuss how to deal with the Israeli aggression and peace proposals. ¶2. (U) The PM noted that it is important that Arabs have a clear and joint position on how to respond to the ongoing developments in Gaza so that the UN Security Council, which he noted is expected to discuss the situation at the request of Libya, will do more than issue statements calling on both the Israelis and Palestinians to exercise restraint. ¶3. (U) The Prime Minister emphasized the need for an immediate stop to the Israeli aggression and the lifting of the siege on Gaza. He made clear that Qatar does not support violence and that the Israeli aggression requires an Arab-Palestinian "counter approach." ¶4. (U) Qatar's Prime Minister called on the next U.S. Administration to deal seriously and justly from the first day to resolve the Israel-Palestinian dispute in accordance with international resolutions, including those of Madrid and Oslo. Delay in reaching an agreement, he underscored, could make the situation worse, which would not be in the interest of the United States or the Arab world. STATEMENT CONDEMNING ISRAELI RAIDS -------------- ¶5. (U) Separately, the Qatar News Agency, quoting an unidentified official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, issued a December 27 dispatch stating that the State of Qatar "has condemned the savage Israeli raids on Gaza and the genocide (sic) operations perpetrated by the Israeli forces against the Palestinian people. The raids constituted a continuation of the aggression policy carried out by Israel against the Palestinian people in a clear challenge and a flagrant violation" of...international and humanitarian legal principles and resolutions. ¶6. (U) The statement also called on the international community, particularly the Quartet, to "shoulder its responsibility ... and immediately and effectively halt such aggression and provide international protection to the Palestinian people. The statement renewed Qatar's "support to the Palestinian people in their just struggle to attain national independence and legitimate rights, foremost of which being their right to self-determination and to establish their independent state with Holy Jerusalem as its capital." HUMANITARIAN AID ANNOUNCED FOR GAZA -------------- DOHA 00000888 002 OF 002 ¶7. (U) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on its web site December 28 a notice, also reported in the Qatari press the same date, announcing that "under the instructions of the Amir...the State of Qatar has decided to provide necessary assistance consisting of emergency shipments of medicines and food for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip." According to press reports, three planes of urgent medicine and foodstuffs from Qatar charities were scheduled to depart December 27 for Al-Arish Airport in Egypt. ¶8. (C) Local press is also reporting that a second boat bearing relief supplies from the official "Qatar Charity" is headed to Gaza. A first boat managed to dock in Gaza earlier this month, apparently monitored but not stopped by Israeli authorities. Israel's Trade Representative in Doha, Roi Rosenblit, told Charge December 27 that this first boat from Qatar Charity was the subject of a telephone call between Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim and Israeli Foreign Minister Livni earlier in December. They agreed, according to Rosenblit, that the boat could land and unload its humanitarian cargo in Ashdod. As the press has reported, the issue opened Livni to criticism from her political rivals, and the boat ultimately never landed in Ashdod. Rosenblit said that another boat, this one sent by the Shaykh Eid bin Mohamad Charity, a private organization in Qatar, was also attempting to land in Gaza, but without official Qatari efforts to coordinate with the GOI. Ratney