DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar hosted a summit of leaders of Arab and Islamic nations Monday within the hopes of presenting a united response to Israel’s assault on Hamas leaders in Doha final week. However the group has few methods to restrain Israel as its warfare within the Gaza Strip grinds on.
Israel launched its invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault, and since then it has additionally retaliated in opposition to the militant group and different members of Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance elsewhere, together with in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and now Qatar. That’s led to wider anger amongst Mideast nations already enraged by the over 64,000 Palestinians killed in the course of the warfare in Gaza — and a rising concern that the U.S. dedication to guard Gulf Arab states will not be robust sufficient.
Nonetheless, it stays unclear simply what the summit will be capable of obtain. Important tensions among the many nations assembly might blunt cooperation — and so they even have few levers they’ll pull. Condemnations from nations that Israel considers enemies, like Iran, will imply little. In the meantime, the nations attending which have diplomatic recognition offers with Israel could also be reluctant to sever ties.
“Considering the deep tensions between the Gulf states and other regional actors, assembling the summit in less than a week, especially given its scale, is a notable achievement that underscores a shared sense of urgency in the region,” the New York-based Soufan Middle mentioned. “The key question is whether … (the summit will) signal a shift toward more consequential measures against Israel, including diplomatic downgrades, targeted economic actions and restrictions on airspace and access.”
Qatar’s ruler affords fiery speech
Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto through Getty Photographs
Qatar’s ruling emir opened the summit by accusing Israel of not caring about its hostages held in Gaza and as an alternative solely working to ”guarantee Gaza is not livable.” Israel has mentioned the objectives of its warfare embody bringing all of the hostages again and defeating Hamas.
“If Israel wishes to assassinate the Hamas leaders, why then engage in negotiations?” Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani requested. “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 of Qatar, which has served as key mediator in an effort to achieve a ceasefire within the warfare.
“There is no room to deal with such a party that’s cowardly and treacherous,” he 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 additionally denounced Israel over what he referred to as the “genocide” it’s committing in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies it’s committing genocide. It says Hamas is prolonging the warfare by not surrendering and releasing the hostages.
Quite a lot of regional leaders attended the summit, together with 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.
Iran, which hit a base in Qatar in June, is attending the summit
Qatari Ministry of Overseas Affairs/AFP through Getty Photographs
After the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear websites in June, Iran struck Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a serious hub for American forces — a transfer that angered Qatar. However, Iran despatched President Masoud Pezeshkian to attend Monday’s assembly. Earlier than leaving Tehran, Pezeshkian famous the vast breadth of countries Israel has attacked since Oct. 7.
“This regime has attacked many Islamic countries,” he mentioned. “It does whatever it wants, and unfortunately, the United States and European countries also support these actions.”
Writing on the social platform X, Iranian Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi added: “Iran stands with Qatar and indeed all Muslim brothers and sisters, particularly against the scourge that is terrorizing the region.”
Araghchi and Pezeshkian didn’t point out Iran’s assault on Qatar and obtained an honor guard welcome when touchdown in Doha.
Qatar has been key in Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks
Nathan Howard/Pool/AFP through Getty Photographs
Qatar, an energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that hosted the 2022 World Cup, lengthy has served as an middleman in conflicts. For years, it has hosted Hamas’ political management on the request of the U.S., offering a channel for Israel to barter with the militant group that has managed Gaza for years.
However because the Israel-Hamas warfare has raged on, Qatar more and more has been criticized by hard-liners inside Netanyahu’s authorities. Netanyahu himself has vowed to strike all those that organized the Hamas-led assault on Israel in 2023. And since final week’s strike, the Israeli chief has doubled down on saying Qatar stays a potential goal if Hamas leaders are there.
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump provided renewed assist for Qatar.
“We’re with them. You know, they’ve been a great ally,” Trump mentioned. “A lot of people don’t understand about Qatar. Qatar has been a great ally, and they also lead a very difficult life because they’re right in the middle of everything.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Israel on Monday for conferences with Netanyahu and different Israeli officers to specific America’s concern over the assault on Qatar and speak about Israel’s deliberate new offensive on Gaza Metropolis.
Rubio declined to deal with Israel’s strike whereas chatting with journalists in Jerusalem, however mentioned that America wished to work with all its companions within the area on stopping Hamas and reaching a ceasefire within the warfare.
“We’re going to continue to encourage Qatar to play a constructive role in that regard,” Rubio mentioned.
Netanyahu once more added that Israel’s resolution to assault Qatar “was a wholly independent decision by us.”
Netanyahu faces growing stress from the Israeli public to finish the warfare and convey house the 48 hostages nonetheless held in Gaza, whom 20 are believed by Israel to nonetheless be alive.
The Hamas-led Oct. 7 assault killed round 1,200 individuals, principally civilians, and led to the kidnapping of 251.
Israel’s ensuing offensives in Gaza have killed greater than 64,000 Palestinians, in response to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say what number of had been civilians or combatants. It says round half of these killed had been ladies and youngsters.
The ministry is a part of the Hamas-run authorities and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and impartial specialists view its figures as essentially the most dependable estimate of warfare casualties. Israel disputes them however has not supplied its personal.
