Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has accused Israel of deliberately obstructing ceasefire negotiations in Gaza through its recent strike on Hamas representatives in Doha. His remarks came as Arab and Muslim leaders convened in the Qatari capital for an emergency summit called by the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The summit, hosted by Qatar, aims to step up collective pressure on Israel amid mounting global calls to end the war and address the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, news agency AFP reported.
Hamas has claimed that its senior officials survived the Israeli air strike in Doha last week, which left six people dead and drew sharp criticism, including a condemnation from US President Donald Trump. The strike reportedly occurred while Hamas leaders were reviewing a new proposal from Washington.
“Whoever works diligently and systematically to assassinate the party with whom he is negotiating, intends to thwart the negotiations,” the Emir said in his opening address, stressing, “Negotiations, for them, are merely part of the war”, as per AFP.
He further accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of harbouring ambitions to dominate the Arab region, calling it “a dangerous illusion”.
Draft Statement Warns of Wider Fallout
According to AFP, a draft of the summit’s concluding statement warned that Israel’s “brutal” actions risk undermining the progress made towards normalising ties with Arab states. The text noted that the aggression threatens both existing agreements and future ones.
Israel, with strong backing from the United States, has been seeking to expand the Abraham Accords, which facilitated diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco in 2020.
As the leaders gathered in Doha, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Israel in a show of Washington’s continued support, with plans to travel to Qatar on Tuesday, a US official confirmed.
On Sunday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a preparatory meeting that “the time has come for the international community to stop using double standards and to punish Israel for all the crimes it has committed”.
The draft statement from the summit of nearly 60 countries also emphasised the need for “collective security” and greater unity to confront shared threats.
Among the leaders in attendance were Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights Council announced an urgent debate on Tuesday regarding the Israeli strike in Qatar. Saudi state media also reported that the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council was scheduled to meet in Doha on Monday.
Aziz Algashian, a Saudi-based researcher on Middle Eastern international relations, told AFP: “Many people are looking at actions, not just rhetoric. We’ve exhausted all forms of rhetoric. Now it’s just going to have to be actions — and we’ll see what those actions will be.”
