DOHA, Qatar — Arab and Muslim leaders called for a review of ties with Israel after emergency talks in Doha on Monday following last week’s IDF strike on Hamas members in the Qatari capital.
The Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation joint session, which brought together nearly 60 countries, sought to take firm action after Israel’s attack on Qatar-hosted Hamas officials as they discussed a Gaza ceasefire proposal.
A joint statement from the summit urged “all states to take all possible legal and effective measures to prevent Israel from continuing its actions against the Palestinian people,” including “reviewing diplomatic and economic relations with it, and initiating legal proceedings against it.”
Qatar’s fellow Gulf nations, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, along with Egypt, Jordan and Morocco, were among those present that recognize Israel.
The leaders of the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, which signed the Abraham Accords recognizing Israel five years ago to the day, did not attend Monday’s talks, sending senior representatives instead.
The statement also urged member states to “coordinate efforts aimed at suspending Israel’s membership in the United Nations.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will arrive in Qatar on Tuesday, after pledging “unwavering support” for Israel’s goal of eradicating Hamas during a visit to the country.
The attack strained ties between Washington and key allies in the Gulf, raising concerns over US security guarantees in a region housing major US assets, including a major military base in Qatar.
The State Department said Rubio would “reaffirm America’s full support for Qatar’s security and sovereignty” after last week’s strike.
Back in Washington, US President Donald Trump was asked in the Oval Office whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had given him any guarantees that he won’t strike Qatar again.
“He won’t be hitting Qatar,” Trump replied.
The US president reiterated that Doha has “been a very good ally, and a lot of people don’t know that.
Netanyahu “won’t be hitting Qatar, but he will be maybe going after…” Trump added, indicating that he expects Israel to continue trying to target Hamas elsewhere before pivoting to discuss a related issue.
Trump was also asked about an Axios report citing unnamed Israeli officials who said that Netanyahu tipped off Trump on the Doha strike in advance and with enough time for the US to order it be called off.
The US president denied the report, sticking to his account that he was only alerted of the attack at a point last week when it was too late to reverse.
Qatar had called for a coordinated regional response after the Israeli attack, which had been intended to take out the senior leaders of Hamas as they gathered in Doha, and which stunned the usually peaceful, wealthy peninsula.
The September 9 airstrike, which Hamas says killed five of its members but not its leadership, drew widespread international condemnation, including from Gulf monarchies allied with the United States and Washington itself.
The summit organized by Qatar aimed to pile pressure on Israel, which is facing mounting calls to end the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The host country’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, accused Israel of trying to scupper ceasefire talks by firing on Hamas negotiators in Qatar, a key mediator.
“Whoever works diligently and systematically to assassinate the party with whom he is negotiating intends to thwart the negotiations,” the emir told the summit.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, was among those present on Monday, as were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel has long maintained ties with Egypt and Jordan, and brokered ties five years ago with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, while it has pushed to expand its relations with Saudi Arabia and recently even Syria.
“Tomorrow, it could be the turn of any Arab or Islamic capital,” said Pezeshkian, whose country fought a 12-day war with Israel in June, at one point attacking a US base in Qatar in retaliation for strikes on its nuclear facilities.
“The choice is clear. We must unite.”
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, the first Arab country to recognize Israel, warned that its attack in Qatar “places obstacles in the way of any opportunities for new peace agreements and even aborts the existing peace agreements with countries in the region”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of adopting a “terrorist mentality,” as countries took turns slamming it over Gaza.
The rich Gulf countries also met on the sidelines of the summit, urging the US to use its “leverage and influence” to rein in Israel, Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi told a press conference.
“We also expect our strategic partners in the United States to use their influence on Israel in order for it to stop this behaviour,” he said. “They have leverage and influence on Israel, and it’s about time that this leverage and influence be used.”