Qatar announced that a meeting of Arab and Islamic countries on Sunday and Monday will discuss issuing a “draft statement” condemning Israel’s attack on Qatar.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed bin Mohammed Al-Ansari stated on Saturday that this emergency summit will “discuss a draft statement regarding the Israeli attack on the State of Qatar presented by the preparatory meeting of the foreign ministers of Arab and Islamic countries, which will be held on Sunday.”
Al-Ansari confirmed in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the summit’s convening “reflects the broad Arab and Islamic solidarity with the State of Qatar in facing the cowardly Israeli aggression that targeted residential premises of several Hamas leaders, and the firm rejection of these countries of the state terrorism practiced by Israel.”
Iran confirmed the participation of its President Masoud Bezhaskian, while Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani will also attend. The Turkish presidency announced that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will visit Doha on Monday, without providing further details.
Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital on Tuesday resulted in the deaths of five Hamas members and one Qatari security personnel.
The attack has drawn widespread international condemnation, particularly from wealthy Gulf states allied with the United States, Israel’s main supporter.
Qatar hosts the largest U.S. military base in the region and mediates in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza alongside the United States and Egypt.
Andreas Krieg from King’s College London stated that the Israeli airstrikes “are considered an unprecedented violation of sovereignty and an assault on diplomacy itself throughout the Gulf. By hosting this summit, Doha indicates that such aggression cannot be treated as normal.”
He added that “the goal is to draw clear red lines and end the impression that Israel can act without punishment,” noting that he expects the summit to adopt “a firmer position toward Palestine and a stricter stance on Israeli practices.”
On Friday, the United Arab Emirates, one of two Gulf states that established relations with Israel in 2020, announced it summoned the Israeli Deputy Ambassador in Abu Dhabi for a formal protest.
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