Arab-Islamic emergency summit offers mixed response to Israeli strike on Hamas in Doha

Arab and Gulf leaders on Monday at an emergency summit in Qatar berated Israel over its recent attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, offering different views about what to do but ultimately agreeing to take only minimal action.

The summit of the Arab and Islamic nations on Monday came in the hopes of presenting a united response to Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders last week in Doha.

A final statement from the meeting only called on states to “take all possible legal and effective measures to prevent Israel from continuing its actions against the Palestinian people.”

Before the summit, analysts had floated the possibility of closing airspace to Israeli flights or downgrading ties with Israel; however, significant differences among the nations likely blunted any attempt at cooperation.

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, held its own meeting on the sidelines of the summit.

Its members agreed to take steps "to activate the mechanisms of joint defence and the Gulf deterrence capabilities,” they said in a statement, without elaborating.

The statement "called on all peace-loving countries of the world to condemn the Israeli crimes in Qatar, Gaza, and the rest of the Palestinian territories.”

Qatar’s ruler offers fiery speech

Qatar’s ruling emir opened the summit by accusing Israel of not caring about its hostages in Gaza and instead working to “ensure Gaza is no longer livable.” Israel says the goals of its war include bringing all the hostages back and defeating Hamas.

“If Israel wishes to assassinate the Hamas leaders, why then engage in negotiations?” Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani asked. “If you wish to insist on the liberation of hostages, why then do they assassinate all negotiators?”

The address was uncharacteristically blunt for the 45-year-old ruler of Qatar, who has served as a key mediator in the ceasefire talks.

“There is no room to deal with such a party that’s cowardly and treacherous,” he said. “Those who work consistently to assassinate the party in these negotiations will certainly do everything to ensure the failure of these negotiations. When they claim that they seek the liberation of hostages, that’s a mere lie.”

Sheikh Tamim also denounced Israel over what he called the “genocide” it is committing in Gaza — an assessment offered by multiple others at the summit. Israel vehemently denies it is committing genocide. It says Hamas is prolonging the war by not surrendering and releasing the hostages.

For Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Israel “should also be squeezed economically, as previous experience shows that such steps yield results.”

While Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who attended the summit, said, “Condemnations will not stop the missiles. Declarations will not free Palestine. Ibrahim called for "Severe, punitive actions must be put in place.”

Meanwhile, nations that have diplomatic recognition deals with Israel were reluctant to sever those ties, although Hossam Zaki, a representative of the Arab League, mentioned that countries could "review" them.

Monday was the fifth anniversary of the signing by Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates of the Abraham Accords that marked their formal recognition of Israel.

Iran, which hit a base in Qatar in June, attended the summit

Iran which struck Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a major hub for American forces following the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites in June, — a move that angered Qatar, attended the meeting on Monday.

Pezeshkian did not touch on Iran’s attack on Qatar but did mention Israel’s war on Iran in June. He also warned that any country in the region could be next.

“The attack on Doha changed lots of miscalculations and wrong ideas,” he said. “It showed that no Arab or Muslim country is safe from the aggression of the regime in Tel Aviv. Tomorrow, it can be any Arab or Muslim capital’s turn.”

Pezeshkian urged other nations to “isolate the aggressor.”

Israel, which launched its invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack, has retaliated against the militant group and other members of Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance elsewhere, including in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and now Qatar.

The deaths of almost 64,000 Palestinians during the war in Gaza have infuriated many Middle Eastern countries, intensified resentment, and raised worries that the US's commitment to defend Gulf Arab governments may not be strong enough.