ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will travel to Qatar to attend an emergency Arab-Islamic summit convened in Doha on Monday, following Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in the Gulf state earlier this week, the Foreign Office said on Saturday.
The Foreign Office spokesperson said, in a statement, that the summit, co-sponsored by Pakistan, was being held “in the wake of Israel’s airstrikes on Doha and the escalating developments in Palestine, following Israeli attempts to occupy Gaza, expand settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and forcibly displace the Palestinians.”
Heads of state, government leaders and senior officials from Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states are expected to participate.
The meeting will be preceded by a preparatory session of foreign ministers on Sunday, which Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will attend, officials said.
Qatar announced on Saturday it would host the emergency gathering to denounce Israel’s strike in Doha and to signal solidarity with the Gulf state.
Foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said the summit would consider a draft resolution on the attack, to be finalised at the ministerial session.
Israel struck a residential compound in Doha on Tuesday that was housing Hamas political leaders. The attack killed five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer, according to Qatari officials. The Hamas officials were reportedly discussing a ceasefire proposal, presented by US President Donald Trump, when the strike occurred.
“The strike amounted to cowardly aggression and represented state terrorism,” al-Ansari said, quoted by the official Qatar News Agency. He added that the summit reflected “broad Arab and Islamic solidarity with the State of Qatar.”
The Israeli strike has drawn widespread international condemnation, including from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye, Iran, Russia, and the United States, Israel’s closest ally.
Washington has sought to calm tensions amid fears the incident could derail ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.
PM Sharif visited Doha on Thursday and met Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. During the meeting, Sharif offered condolences over the deaths and assured Pakistan’s “full solidarity and support” for Qatar’s sovereignty and security.
Qatar, which hosts the largest US military base in the region, has played a key role as mediator in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, alongside the United States and Egypt.
Among leaders expected at Monday’s summit are Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also due in Doha, though his attendance at the summit has not been formally confirmed.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza since October 2023 has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, and displaced nearly the entire population.
Rights groups and UN experts have accused Israel of genocide, an allegation it strongly rejects.
The war began after Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
