Qatar calls for diplomacy to defuse Red Sea tensions

DOHA, Qatar

Qatar has called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in the Red Sea amid US and British airstrikes against the Houthi group in Yemen.

"We always prefer diplomacy over any military resolutions," Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The US and UK launched airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen in retaliation for attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea.

The Houthi attacks have forced commercial ships to take a longer, costlier route around Africa, creating fears of a new bout of inflation and supply chain disruption.

Houthis say their attacks against ships believed to have links with Israel aim to pressure Tel Aviv to halt its deadly onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

“We need to address the real issue which is Gaza in order to get everything else defused,” bin Abdulrahman said.

“We shouldn’t just focus on those small conflicts, we should focus on the main conflict in Gaza and as soon as it’s defused I believe everything else will be defused.”

Israel has launched a deadly onslaught on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, killing at least 24,285 people and injuring 61,154 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.

The offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Ankara