GCC Highlights Importance of Strategic Partnership with US in Enhancing Region’s Stability

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) emphasized the importance of the strategic and growing partnership between the Council and the United States aimed at enhancing peace, security, stability, integration, and economic prosperity in the region. GCC Secretary-General Jassim Mohammed Al Budaiwi said in a statement today that the joint ministerial meeting of the GCC-US strategic partnership, held in Riyadh under the chairmanship of HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, President of the current session of the Ministerial Council, discussed all international and regional issues of mutual interest. He affirmed the Gulf States' stance on the necessity of achieving an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza, halting all Israeli military operations, ensuring the protection of civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law, and lifting all restrictions hindering the entry of humanitarian aid and essential needs into the sector. At the s ame time, he reiterated the strong rejection of any attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land, as well as escalating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, including settlement expansion, land confiscation, military operations against Palestinians, settler attacks, and the siege of places of worship for Muslims and Christians. He reiterated the GCC's steadfast support for the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state based on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. He called on the international community to take irreversible steps to implement the two-state solution, recognize the State of Palestine, and enable the Palestinian people to exercise their basic and legitimate rights in accordance with United Nations resolutions and international law. He stressed the UN Security Council's responsibility for maintaining in ternational peace and security, particularly in this highly sensitive region, to prevent the crisis from escalating further, which would have severe consequences if its scope were to expand. Source: Qatar News Agency