Qatari PM Criticizes US-UK Attack On Houthis Increases Risk Of Escalation And Expansion Of Conflict

Qatar PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. (Wikimedia Commons/US Department of State)

JAKARTA - The military attack will not stop the Yemeni Houthi group's attack on commercial shipping lines in the Red Sea, but it will end the war in Gaza which is key, Prime Minister Qatari said on Tuesday at a World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani described the current regional situation as "a recipe for escalation everywhere", saying Qatar believed easing the conflict in Gaza would stop escalation in other areas.

"We need to address the main problem, namely Gaza so that everything can be reduced. If we only focus on the symptoms and don't address the real problem, (the solution) is only temporary," he said.

The conflict has spread to several parts of the Middle East since the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas began on October 7, with groups allied with Iran carrying out attacks in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

Iran-backed Yemen's Houthi group since November has attacked ships in the Red Sea, part of a route that accounts for about 12 percent of world shipping traffic, in what they say is an attempt to support Palestinians in the war with Israel.

US and British troops have responded by carrying out dozens of air and sea attacks against Houthi targets in Yemen since last Friday.

Sheikh Mohammed said the US and UK attacks created a "high risk of further escalation and further expansion" of the conflict.

"We always prefer diplomacy over any military resolution," he said.

Without a sustainable and sustainable two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, the international community will not want to finance Gaza's reconstruction, Sheikh Mohammed said.

"Bigr images cannot be ignored," he said, while urging the international community to ask Israel to agree on a time-bound and irreversible path to a two-state solution.

"We can't let this happen only in the hands of Israel," concluded Sheikh Mohammed.