Qatar hosted an emergency summit gathering Arab and Islamic nations on Monday, hoping to present a united response to Israel’s attack against Hamas leaders in Doha last week.
Qatar’s ruling emir opened the summit by accusing Israel of not caring about its hostages held in Gaza and instead only working to “ensure Gaza is no longer livable.”
Israel has said 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 said. “If you wish to insist on the liberation of hostages, why then do they assassinate all negotiators?”
The speech was unusually fiery for the 45-year-old ruler. For years, the country has hosted Hamas’ political leadership, and it has served as a key mediator in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas since 7 October 2023.
But Israel’s strike could deal a serious blow to these diplomatic efforts, with Qatar labelling the attack as “state terrorism.”
“There is no room to deal with such a party that’s cowardly and treacherous,” the emir added.
“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 accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies it is committing genocide. It says Hamas is prolonging the war by not surrendering and releasing the hostages.
In a November 2024 report, the United Nations Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices found that “Israel’s warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”
The Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Hissein Brahim Taha also condemned the recent Israeli strike in Qatar and called for Israel “to be held accountable for all its crimes.”
A variety of regional leaders attended the summit, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa.
Attendees have held various positions regarding Israel, with some regarding it as an enemy, and other having diplomatic recognition deals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to strike all those who organised the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
