Qatar hosts summit over Israeli assault on Hamas in Doha

[ad_1] DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar hosted a summit of Arab and Islamic nations Monday within the hopes of presenting a united response to Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders last week in Doha . However leaders supplied completely different views about what to do, and the group agreed to take solely minimal motion.

Israel, which launched its invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault, has 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 fueled wider anger amongst Mideast nations already enraged by the deaths of greater than 64,000 Palestinians in the course of the battle in Gaza and contributed to rising concern that the U.S. dedication to guard Gulf Arab states may not be strong enough .

Nonetheless, vital variations among the many nations seemingly blunted any try at cooperation.

Condemnations got here from international locations that Israel considers enemies, like Iran. In the meantime, the nations which have diplomatic recognition offers with Israel had been reluctant to sever these ties. Monday was the fifth anniversary of the signing by Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates of the Abraham Accords that marked their formal recognition of Israel.

“Condemnations won't cease the missiles. Declarations won't free Palestine,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stated. “Extreme, punitive actions should be put in place.”

Qatar’s ruler presents fiery speech Qatar’s ruling emir opened the summit by accusing Israel of not caring about its hostages in Gaza and as an alternative working to ”guarantee Gaza is now not livable.” Israel has stated the objectives of its battle embody bringing all of the hostages again and defeating Hamas.

“If Israel needs to assassinate the Hamas leaders, why then interact in negotiations?” Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani requested. “For those who want 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 ceasefire talks.

“There is no such thing as a room to take care of such a celebration that’s cowardly and treacherous,” he added. “Those that work persistently to assassinate the social gathering in these negotiations will definitely do all the things to make sure the failure of those negotiations. Once they declare that they search 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 — an evaluation supplied by a number of others on the summit. Israel vehemently denies it's committing genocide. It says Hamas is prolonging the war by not surrendering and releasing the hostages.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated Israel “must also be squeezed economically, as earlier expertise reveals that such steps yield outcomes.”

Iran, which hit a base in Qatar in June, is attending the summit After the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear websites in June, Iran struck Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar , a significant hub for American forces — a transfer that angered Qatar. Nonetheless, Iran despatched President Masoud Pezeshkian to attend Monday’s assembly, the place he urged different nations to “isolate the aggressor.”

Pezeshkian didn't contact on Iran’s assault on Qatar however did point out Israel’s battle on Iran in June. He additionally warned that any nation within the area could possibly be subsequent.

“The assault on Doha modified a number of miscalculations and flawed concepts,” he stated. “It confirmed that no Arab or Muslim nation is protected from the aggression of the regime in Tel Aviv. Tomorrow it may be any Arab or Muslim capital’s flip.”

Earlier than the summit, analysts floated presumably closing airspace to Israeli flights or downgrading ties with Israel. A closing assertion from the assembly, nonetheless, solely referred to as on states to “take all attainable authorized and efficient measures to forestall Israel from persevering with its actions in opposition to the Palestinian individuals.”

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which incorporates Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, held its personal assembly on the sidelines of the summit. Its members determined to take steps “to activate the mechanisms of joint protection and the Gulf deterrence capabilities,” they stated in an announcement, with out elaborating.

Qatar has been key in Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks 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 battle 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 attainable goal if Hamas leaders are there.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Israel on Monday for meetings with Netanyahu and different Israeli officers to specific America’s concern over the assault on Qatar and discuss Israel’s deliberate new offensive on Gaza Metropolis. Rubio deliberate to pay a fast go to to Qatar on Tuesday because the administration seeks to ease tensions between its two shut allies.

Rubio declined to deal with Israel’s strike whereas talking to journalists in Jerusalem, however he stated America wished to work with all its companions within the area to cease Hamas and attain a ceasefire within the battle.

“We’re going to proceed to encourage Qatar to play a constructive function in that regard,” Rubio stated.

Netanyahu once more added that Israel’s choice to assault Qatar “was a completely unbiased choice by us.”

Netanyahu faces rising stress from the Israeli public to finish the battle and convey residence the 48 hostages still held in Gaza , of 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 keeping with Gaza’s Well being 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 unbiased specialists view its figures as probably the most dependable estimate of battle casualties. Israel disputes them however has not supplied its personal.

window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '870613919693099', xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' }); };

(function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); [ad_2] Source link