Military strikes will not contain attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea, but an end to the conflict in Gaza will, Qatar’s prime minister said during the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Reuters reports.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani described the current regional situation as a “recipe for escalation everywhere” and said Qatar believes that defusing the conflict in Gaza will stop the escalation on other fronts.

“We need to address the central issue, which is Gaza, in order to get everything else defused […] if we are just focusing on the symptoms and not treating the real issues, [solutions] will be temporary,” he said.

Sheikh Mohammed said US and British attacks create “a high risk of further escalation and further expansion” of the conflict.

“We always prefer diplomacy over any military resolutions,” he said.