DOHA, Qatar: More than 50 states of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are attending an emergency summit in Doha on Monday, called in response to Israel’s unprecedented strike on Hamas negotiators in Qatar.
Heads of state, prime ministers, foreign ministers, and senior officials have flown into the Qatari capital in a rare show of solidarity with Doha, whose sovereignty was directly violated by Israel’s attack earlier this month. Among the confirmed participants are Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also expected.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, joined foreign ministers from across the Muslim world on Sunday to draft the resolution that leaders are now set to discuss.
Qatar vows to continue mediation
On Sunday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani vowed Israel’s “practices” would not derail Doha’s mediation with Egypt and the United States to end the Gaza war. He accused Israel of committing “war crimes” and urged the world to end its “double standards”.
“The time has come for the international community to punish Israel for all the crimes it has committed,” he said. “The war of extermination that our Palestinian brothers are facing will not succeed in expelling them from their land.”
The summit was triggered by an Israeli air raid on Doha last week that targeted the residences of Hamas officials involved in ceasefire talks. The attack killed five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer.
The strike was widely condemned as a violation of Qatari sovereignty and international law. The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs labelled it an “aggressive act”, while the UN Security Council unanimously condemned it on Thursday.
Gaza under relentless bombardment
Even as leaders gathered in Doha, Israel intensified its offensive across the Gaza Strip. On Sunday alone, at least 53 Palestinians were killed, including 35 in Gaza City, where Israeli warplanes levelled 16 buildings.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported two more deaths from malnutrition, raising the toll from hunger to 422 since the war began. Tens of thousands have fled their homes amid relentless strikes, with residents describing entire neighbourhoods turned to rubble.
“We don’t know where to go,” said Marwan al-Safi, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City. “We are dying here.”
The Government Media Office in Gaza accused Israel of “systematic bombing” designed to achieve extermination and forced displacement, citing attacks on schools, hospitals, and aid centres.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said 10 of the agency’s buildings had been hit in Gaza City in just four days, further crippling aid delivery.
