Doha Forum 2025 live: Gaza, Ukraine wars in focus as policy leaders gather

Speaking at Doha Forum, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has that the United States remains Europe’s biggest ally, after the Trump administration said in a major strategy document that Europe faces “civilisational erasure” and may one day lose its status as a reliable ally.

The new US National Security Strategy, posted on the White House website overnight Thursday-to-Friday, denounced the European Union as anti-democratic and Europe as lacking in self-confidence, and said the goal of the US should be “to help Europe correct its current trajectory”.

“There’s a lot of criticism, but I think some of it is also true, if you look at Europe, it has been underestimating its own power towards Russia,” Kallas said.

“We should be more self-confident,” she said, adding that the “US is still our biggest ally”.

“I think we haven’t always seen eye to eye on different topics, but I think the overall principle is still there. We are the biggest allies and we should stick together,” Kallas said.

The Qatari prime minister has said that achieving lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians not only requires ending the bloodshed in Gaza, but addressing the “root causes” of the conflict.

“It is not only about Gaza. It’s about Gaza, it’s about the West Bank, it’s about the rights of the Palestinians for their state,” said the prime minister. “We are hoping that we can work together with the US administration to achieve this vision at the end of the day.

“It’ s not easy, it will have a lot of challenges, it will face a lot of attacks, but we will keep pushing in order to find at the end of the day a long-lasting solution” that brings justice “for both people”, he added.

Jose Manuel Albares says the two-state solution, with a “viable Palestinian state living in good neighbourhood with the Israeli state”, is the only way that will lead to security and peace for both Palestinians and Israelis.

The foreign minister said Spain recognised the state of Palestine last year because of “justice”, “peace” and “pure humanity”.

“I don’t see why in the world we would assume that the Palestinian people [are] the only people in the world eternally condemned to be a people of refugees,” he added.

“When you see 70,000 Palestinians being killed in front of your eyes, in front of your TV screen, children, babies, and when you believe in the UN charter, in the principles and values that founded the European Union, you cannot not move, you have to do something,” Albares said, calling for action to establish “a real Palestinian state”.

“And that means the West Bank and Gaza under one single Palestinian authority,” he added, calling for an end to settler violence and expansion of illegal settlements.

“The day we will have one single Palestinian authority that will control West Bank and Gaza connected by a corridor with an exit to the sea, and its capital in East Jerusalem living in good neighbourhood with Israel, I think that day we will have achieved what Europe stands for, which is peace and respect of international law and international humanitarian law,” he concluded to applause.

The Qatari prime minister says recent US efforts to engage with both sides in the Gaza mediation process have “helped us in making breakthroughs”, including the latest ceasefire agreement.

Mediators, he said, have shown a “willingness to push to the finish line, to get it done”.

However, he cautioned that a lasting ceasefire has not yet been achieved, which will require continued engagement and pressure from the mediators.

“We are at a critical moment,” said the prime minister. “What we have done is a pause, we cannot consider it yet a ceasefire,” Sheikh Mohammed added.

“A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza, and people can go in and out, which is not the case today.”

Sheikh Mohammed said mediators are currently working to “force the way forward” to phase two of the ceasefire deal.

According to authorities in Gaza, Israeli forces have violated the ceasefire more than 590 times since it came into effect in October, killing at least 366 Palestinians and wounding nearly 1,000.

Hakan Fidan, Turkiye’s foreign minister, says Ankara is ready to do whatever it takes for the ceasefire and peace efforts in Gaza to continue.

He said there was still a big discussion about the planned peacekeepers on the ground in Gaza, adding that talks are ongoing on the mission statement, the rules of engagement and other elements.

“I think when we define the mission of ISF, we should be realistic,” he said, referring to the international stabilisation force, the planned peacekeeping mission in Gaza.

He stressed that the ISF’s main objective should be keeping the Israeli forces and the Palestinians separate through a border, adding that other issues should be addressed later.

“Whatever ISF is going to do should also be supplemented by other entities like a police force that is going to be vetted and trained,” Fidan added.

The Qatari prime minister has spoken about the country’s purpose in hosting groups such as Hamas and the Taliban during mediation efforts, for which it has received some Western criticism.

“If we don’t keep open channels with them, then none of those conflicts can be solved,” said the prime minister, citing successful peace talks between the US and Afghanistan, culminating in the Doha Accord in 2020, and numerous ceasefire agreements brokered between Israel and Hamas.

“Look at what we have achieved in ending the longest modern American war in history between the US and Afghanistan,” said the prime minister. “Hosting the office of the Taliban was for a single purpose – to facilitate these mediation efforts.

“At the end of the day, Qatar provides a platform, provides the forum for parties to talk,” he continued. “It doesn’t mean that we are taking one side or the other.

“Our role is to make sure that the dialogue is ongoing, and the dialogue ends with a positive outcome … that ends the conflict and ends the humanitarian suffering.”

Here are some of the key points the diplomat made:

• We should stick to international law because these rules protect the majority of the countries in the world, which are small countries.
• We need mediation for ending the conflicts that are going on, and international law for preventing future conflicts.

Jose Manuel Albares has also been asked about Spain’s decision not to increase military spending to 5 percent of GDP, as other NATO member states have committed to.

The Spanish foreign minister defends his country’s commitment to the alliance, saying Spain is a “reliable” and “vital” NATO ally, whose deployment is at its “historical height”.

Albares also says Spain is going to meet all the commitments that NATO has asked of it when it comes to capacity, adding that the country does not need to do that by spending 5 percent of its GDP on defence.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares is asked about the war in Ukraine.

He says that what is at stake right now is the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Ukrainian people.

Albares describes the current situation as “a very challenging moment in world history in which for some countries – one of them is Russia – war has become a normal tool of foreign policy”.

“It’s not the only one; in the Middle East, Israel thinks exactly the same way,” Albares says.

“We think the opposite, we stick to the UN charter, we think that war is not a way of settling disputes among people or states – and above all, that a war of aggression cannot have reward.”

Hakan Fidan, Turkiye’s foreign minister, says the topic of refugees has been “a big issue” for his country as Ankara could not “avoid certain crises taking place” around its neighbourhood.

“When the crisis happens, it is your humanitarian duty to shoulder some of the responsibilities you are facing,” he said, adding: “That is what is happening with Turkiye.”

Fidan reminded that the government in Ankara followed an “open-door policy” when the crisis in Syria started in the early 2010s, and it cost his ruling party politically in the country.

“But in the long run, we saw that it really served the humanitarian objectives,” the top diplomat said.

Fidan stressed that Turkiye’s neighbourhood is facing many problems, such as the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and, until recently, in Syria.

He concluded that US President Donald Trump is trying to do overlaps with Turkiye’s interests and objectives, adding that both countries have been in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza and Ukraine, as well as stability in Syria.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has spoken at the forum’s first panel, titled “Mediation in a Time of Fragmentation”.

The Qatari prime minister said the nation’s prominence as a global mediator stems from its unique “geopolitical situation” as a small nation surrounded by larger nations.

“Our national security stands on the stability of the region,” he said. “As a small nation, we cannot become a superpower by military”, so Qatar’s “footprint” is created through diplomatic and investment outreach.

“That’s why we have always strived to settle conflicts through mediation. And in this fragmented world today, it’s more and more needed – the role of small countries,” he said.

Kaja Kallas, the European Commission’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, has said Qatar’s mediation efforts in Gaza, Afghanistan and Sudan, among many others, are commendable.

“In this time, when we have more conflicts than ever before, over 60 wars are going on in the world, we need mediation on different levels, and Qatar here plays a very, very important role,” she said, turning to Qatar’s top diplomat and saying thank you.

The Doha Forum has built a tradition over the years of awarding individuals or organisations for their courageous work.

The forum presented its annual award to Alex Thier and Saad Mohseni this year for their “transformative” work in challenging environments such as Palestine and Afghanistan to provide proper education for children.

The award was presented to the two winners by Sheikh Tamim, the emir of Qatar.

Gates has focused his keynote address on efforts to advance global health.

He said while “progress” towards curbing childhood disease and poverty is “fragile”, he is optimistic about potential major advances.

“Fortunately, our innovation is going faster than ever. Thanks to great science, we will create new tools. We will have a vaccine for HIV and malaria. We will have the tools to end polio and make it the second disease ever eradicated,” Gates said.

The Microsoft founder also announced an expanded partnership with the Qatar Fund for Development to support economic empowerment, health and education.

“This commitment to those in the greatest need is very exciting,” he said.

The Sheraton Grand Doha Resort in Doha’s West Bay neighbourhood is gradually filling up as guests and participants drift towards al-Dafna Hall ahead of the Doha Forum’s opening speech, standing in long queues, waiting for security to let them through.

The noise level is rising – a blend of conversations in English, Arabic, Spanish and other languages – as more diplomats, NGO representatives, academics, journalists and policy analysts arrive.

The place is slowly filling up, with people settling in, greeting familiar faces, and finding where to go before the formal programme begins.