TLTP
\nWASHINGTON
\nPresident Donald Trump\u2019s outgoing administration is working to lift the three-year-old Gulf blockade on Qatar and hopes for progress \u201cin the next 70 days\u201d.
\nQatar has been under an air, land and sea blockade imposed by fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members \u2013 Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain as well as non-GCC member Egypt \u2013 since June 2017.
\nThe blockading states cut diplomatic and trade ties with Doha, claiming it supported \u201cterrorism\u201d and that its ties with Iran were too close.
\nQatar has vehemently rejected the allegations saying there was \u201cno legitimate justification\u201d for severing relations.
\nUS National Security Adviser Robert O\u2019Brien said he is hopeful \u201can air bridge\u201d \u2013 allowing flights to and from Qatar to pass over Saudi Arabia and Bahrain \u2013 will be established over the coming weeks.
\n\u201cI would like to see that get done before \u2013 if we end up leaving the office \u2013 I\u2019d like to see that get done in the next 70 days. And I think there\u2019s a possibility for it,\u201d O\u2019Brien said during a chat with The Hill\u2019s Steve Clemons as part of the 2020 Global Security Forum.
\nO\u2019Brien\u2019s remarks followed other optimistic comments recently from Trump administration officials that the Gulf crisis could be resolved as part of Washington\u2019s efforts to isolate Iran.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s in America\u2019s interest to have harmonious relationships within the [Gulf Cooperation Council] because that provides an important counter-balance to Iran,\u201d O\u2019Brien said.
\nO\u2019Brien said a resolution of the Gulf conflict is also aimed at \u201cpushing for more Arab countries to open diplomatic relations with Israel\u201d.
\n\u201cIt would open up the opportunity for more peace deals with Israel and creating a real economic opportunity zone across the Middle East and even being able to take that out to other parts of the Muslim and the Arab world.\u201d
\nIn recent months, the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan have formalised relations with Israel in deals brokered by the Trump administration, with the Palestinian leadership denouncing the normalisation agreements as a \u201cstab in the back\u201d and a betrayal of the Palestinian cause.
\nThe Palestinians fear the moves will weaken a long-standing pan-Arab position calling for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory and acceptance of Palestinian statehood in return for establishing relations with Arab nations.
\nOn Monday, Qatar said the Arab states that establish ties with Israel undermine efforts for Palestinian statehood. \u201cI think it\u2019s better to have a united [Arab] front to put the interests of the Palestinians [first] to end the [Israeli] occupation,\u201d Qatar\u2019s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said.
\nDoha maintains some relations with Israel, though only on matters concerning the Palestinians, such as humanitarian needs or development projects.
\nQatar supports a two-state solution with occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, a stance the foreign minister reiterated.
\nO\u2019Brien also told The Hill the Gulf crisis is a \u201ckind of a family dispute\u201d. \u201cAnd like family disputes, sometimes those are the hardest to solve. But we\u2019d like to get all these cousins back together at the Thanksgiving table, so to speak. And it\u2019s something we\u2019re working on, and we\u2019re going to keep working on it,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cAs long as the president [Trump] is in office, it\u2019s something that\u2019ll be a priority.\u201d
\nAt the online Global Security Forum on Monday, Qatar\u2019s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed also said there are no winners in the crisis, adding his country is hopeful it will end \u201cat any moment\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP WASHINGTON President Donald Trump\u2019s outgoing administration is working to lift the three-year-old Gulf blockade on Qatar and hopes for progress \u201cin the next 70 days\u201d. Qatar has been under an air, land and sea blockade imposed by fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members \u2013 Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain as well […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n