UAE President reiterates call for independent Palestinian state during BRICS summit

President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has reiterated the UAE’s call for the protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip, unimpeded humanitarian access and an immediate ceasefire, and urged the international community to do all in its power to bring an end to the conflict and ease the suffering of those affected.

His Highness’s comments came on the occasion of a virtual summit today of the five BRICS countries along with those nations recently invited to join, which include the UAE. The ‘BRICS Extraordinary Joint Meeting on the Middle East situation in Gaza’ was convened by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in his capacity as current Chair of the BRICS partnership.

In a statement issued at the summit, the President highlighted the increasingly desperate humanitarian crisis facing the people of Gaza and stressed the need to ensure the safe, secure, prompt, and regular delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need. His Highness called for an urgent end to hostilities, warning that allowing the fighting to continue will result in further casualties and an increased risk of the conflict spilling over to threaten regional stability.

The Ruler noted that the only way to address the crisis is to revive the peace process and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the two-State solution and the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian State on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The UAE President called on the BRICS members and other nations to seek to create an environment of enduring peace in the Middle East, and to pursue all efforts to ensure that dialogue and peaceful coexistence become a path to stability in the region.

• Speaking their mind, getting aid to Gaza: How UAE's foreign policy is tackling the big picture