Arab-Islamic summit: Qatar’s emir vows to ‘confront Israeli aggression’

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has warned against Israel’s expansionist vision of the Arab region as he lambasted the country for last week’s deadly bombing of Doha, calling the assault “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 Qatari emir said in his opening speech at the emergency summit of the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

“Our citizens were surprised, and the entire world was shocked by the aggression and cowardly terrorist act,” he said, referring to the global condemnation of the September 9 attack that killed six people.

“We are determined to do whatever is necessary to preserve our sovereignty and confront Israeli aggression.”

Doha, a close US ally that hosts the largest United States military base in the region, has dubbed the unprecedented attack “state terrorism”. The strike targeted Hamas leaders gathered to discuss a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal. The Palestinian group says its top leadership survived the assassination attempt.

Sheikh Tamim said Israel’s actions showed it had no genuine interest in peace, adding that Israel is attempting to “thwart the negotiations” aimed at ending Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 64,800 Palestinians.

“Anyone who persistently and systematically targets a negotiating party is working to thwart the negotiations,” he said.

Sheikh Tamim accused Israel of waging what he described as a war aimed at destroying Gaza, which has been under unrelenting Israeli bombardment for the past 23 months.

“The Israeli war on Gaza has turned into a war of extermination,” he said. “Israel wants to make Gaza uninhabitable as a prelude to displacing its population.”

media’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Doha, said: “There’s been firm support at this summit for Qatar and condemnation of Israel over the attack, which members say undermines security and stability in the region.”

The Arab Peace Initiative

Qatar has been a key mediator in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas since Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza in October 2023. Israeli actions in Gaza have been dubbed genocide by numerous rights organisations, including the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members, including Israel’s closest ally, the US, condemned the Israeli attack on Doha on Thursday.

Addressing the UNSC, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said that Doha would not tolerate further breaches of its security and sovereignty. “Israel is undermining the stability of the region impetuously,” he said.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to attack Hamas leaders again if Qatar does not expel the Palestinian leaders. During a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Netanyahu on Monday repeated that Israel will hit Hamas “wherever they are”.

The threats come despite US President Donald Trump assuring Sheikh Tamim last week that “such a thing will not happen again on their soil”. The Trump administration has said that the attack on Doha did not “advance Israel’s or America’s goals”.

Rubio is set to travel to Qatar on Tuesday, a senior US State Department official says.

The Qatari emir said that Netanyahu is dreaming of making the Arab region “an Israeli sphere of influence”, and said that believing “the Arab region will become an Israeli zone of influence is a dangerous illusion”.

He went on to note that Israel’s rejection of the Arab Peace Initiative had contributed to repeated cycles of violence in the region.

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 a complete withdrawal from territories occupied, including the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights, and southern Lebanon.

Israel’s then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected the plan as a “non-starter”, and successive Israeli governments, including Netanyahu’s, have dismissed the proposals.

“If Israel had accepted the Arab Peace Initiative, it would have spared the entire region countless tragedies,” Sheikh Tamim said.

GCC pledges ‘activate joint defence mechanisms’

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of which Qatar is a member, has pledged to “activate joint defence mechanisms”.

In a communique issued after the Arab-Islamic summit, the GCC’s Supreme Council said it “condemned in the strongest terms the Israeli attack” and affirmed “the full solidarity of the GCC states with the State of Qatar in all measures it takes to confront this attack”.

The GCC – comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – said urgent consultations were already under way among the GCC’s 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”. It did not provide further details.

The Arab-Islamic Emergency Summit in Doha, which brought together leaders from the 57-member OIC and the 22-member Arab League, adopted a broader statement declaring that Israel’s brutal aggression undermines any prospects for peace in the region.

The text voiced support for the mediation efforts of Qatar, Egypt and the United States, while rejecting what it described as Israel’s “repeated threats” to target Qatar again.

media’s Ibrahim said the summit also pressed for international accountability. She noted that leaders called on the international community to take urgent action to halt Israeli attacks, and urged member states of the OIC to examine whether Israel’s UN membership is compatible with its UN Charter obligations, given what they described as Israel’s continued violations and disregard for UN resolutions.