Doha: Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani warned against Israel’s expansionist ambitions in the Arab world during an emergency Arab-Islamic summit, lambasting last week’s deadly airstrike on Doha as “blatant, treacherous and cowardly”.
“My country’s capital was subjected to a treacherous attack targeting a residence housing the families of Hamas leaders and their negotiating delegation,” the emir said in his opening speech at the summit convened by the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
“Our citizens were surprised, and the entire world was shocked by the aggression and cowardly terrorist act,” he added, referring to the September 9 attack that killed six people.
“We are determined to do whatever is necessary to preserve our sovereignty and confront Israeli aggression,” he said.
The airstrike targeted senior Hamas leaders who were in Doha to discuss a US-backed proposal for a Gaza ceasefire. A close US ally and host to the largest American military base in the region, Doha has labelled the strike “state terrorism”. Hamas officials confirmed that their top leadership survived the assassination attempt.
The emir said Israel’s actions reveal a lack of genuine interest in peace. “Anyone who persistently and systematically targets a negotiating party is working to thwart the negotiations,” he said, warning that the Israeli assault was designed to undermine talks aimed at ending the Gaza conflict, which has killed more than 64,800 Palestinians.
“The Israeli war on Gaza has turned into a war of extermination,” he said, adding, “Israel wants to make Gaza uninhabitable as a prelude to displacing its population.”
The summit expressed solidarity for Qatar and condemned Tel Aviv Israel over the attack, which members say undermines security and stability in the region.
The Arab Peace Initiative
Qatar has been central to indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas since Israel’s October 2023 military offensive in Gaza. Israeli actions in the strip have been called genocide by multiple rights organisations, including the International Association of Genocide Scholars.
United Nations Security Council members, including the United States, condemned Israel’s attack on Doha.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said Doha would not tolerate further breaches of its sovereignty. “Israel is undermining the stability of the region impetuously,” he warned.
Despite assurances from US President Donald Trump that “such a thing will not happen again on their soil”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to target Hamas leaders again if Qatar does not expel them, stating in a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Israel will strike Hamas “wherever they are”.
Rubio is set to visit Doha on Tuesday.
Sheikh Tamim described Netanyahu’s vision as a dangerous dream to turn the Arab region into “an Israeli sphere of influence” and criticised Tel Aviv’s rejection of the Arab Peace Initiative for perpetuating cycles of violence.
First endorsed by the Arab League in 2002 and reaffirmed in 2007 and 2017, the initiative offered Israel full normalisation of relations with Arab states in return for complete withdrawal from occupied territories, including the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights and southern Lebanon.
Sheikh Tamim said, “If Israel had accepted the Arab Peace Initiative, it would have spared the entire region countless tragedies.”
GCC Pledges To ‘Activate Joint Defence Mechanisms’
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, pledged to “activate joint defence mechanisms” in response to the attack.
The GCC’s Supreme Council condemned Israel “in the strongest terms” and affirmed “full solidarity of the GCC states with the State of Qatar in all measures it takes to confront this attack”.
Urgent consultations are underway among GCC military bodies, with instructions given to the Unified Military Command “to take the necessary executive measures to activate joint defence mechanisms and Gulf deterrent capabilities”.
The Arab-Islamic emergency summit, attended by leaders from the 57-member OIC and the 22-member Arab League, issued a joint statement declaring that Israel’s “brutal aggression undermines any prospects for peace in the region”.
The summit expressed support for mediation efforts by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, while rejecting Israel’s “repeated threats” to target Qatar again.
The summit pressed for international accountability, calling on the global community to halt Israeli attacks and urging OIC member states to assess Israel’s compatibility with UN Charter obligations, citing repeated violations and disregard for UN resolutions.