Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has mentioned that there should be a “collective response” to Israel’s assault on the Qatari capital Doha, as Arab leaders rushed to the Gulf nation to specific solidarity.
“There’s a response that may occur from the area. This response is presently underneath session and dialogue with different companions within the area,” he advised US media outlet CNN on Wednesday, including that “your complete Gulf area is in danger”.
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“We hope for one thing significant that deters Israel from persevering with this bullying,” Sheikh Mohammed added, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of main the area into “chaos”.
“We perceive some form of regional assembly will likely be held right here in Qatar. We all know that the international locations have pulled collectively their very own authorized group. They’re taking a look at all authorized avenues to have Netanyahu tried for breaking worldwide legislation,” Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford mentioned.
“So yeah, the stress is certainly mounting on Israel, not solely from Qatar, however clearly on a regional and a wider worldwide stage. And that’s what I believe he’s clearly attempting to do in giving these very forceful statements to the US community, CNN.”
The Israeli army focused Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday as they had been assembly to debate the most recent Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by US President Donald Trump. Not less than seven individuals had been killed within the assault, however Hamas mentioned its management survived the assassination bid. Qatar says two of its safety officers had been killed within the assault that has drawn global condemnation.
On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Israel’s assault in a cellphone name with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. “These strikes are unacceptable. I condemn them. I reaffirmed France’s dedication to the sovereignty and safety of Qatar,” he posted on X.
The assault was a part of a wider wave of Israeli strikes extending past its fast borders, and marked the sixth nation attacked in simply 72 hours and the seventh for the reason that begin of this yr. On Wednesday, Israel killed 35 individuals in an assault on Yemen.
The chief of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group mentioned on Wednesday that Israel’s strike on Qatar is a warning to oil-rich Gulf international locations that they’d not be spared sooner or later if armed teams within the area are defeated.
“We’re on the facet of Qatar that was subjected to an aggression and we additionally stand with the Palestinian resistance,” Naim Kassem mentioned. He added that the Israeli strike is a part of its makes an attempt to create a “Greater Israel” in massive elements of the Center East.
The “Larger Israel” idea supported by ultranationalist Israelis is known to confer with an expansionist imaginative and prescient that lays declare to the occupied West Financial institution, Gaza, elements of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Jordan.
Israel has been accused of committing genocide in Gaza by quite a few rights teams, however that has not stopped it from its brutal marketing campaign of bombardment. On Wednesday, Israeli assaults throughout Gaza killed not less than 72 individuals, taking the whole variety of Palestinians killed since October 2023 to greater than 64,656. Israel has intensified its assault to seize Gaza Metropolis – house to a couple of million Palestinians.
Sheikh Mohammed, the Qatari prime minister, additionally mentioned that the Israeli strike was geared toward undermining “any likelihood of peace” in Gaza.
“Every little thing in regards to the assembly could be very well-known to the Israelis and the People. It’s not one thing that we’re hiding,” he mentioned of the presence of Hamas officers in Qatar.
“I believe that what [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu did yesterday – he simply killed any hope for these [Israeli] hostages,” Sheikh Mohammed mentioned in regards to the 20 captives believed to be nonetheless alive in Gaza.
Netanyahu seems unfazed
Nevertheless, Netanyahu seems unfazed by the criticism from international leaders, together with the UN secretary-general.
On Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister threatened further attacks on Qatar. “I say to Qatar and all nations who harbour terrorists, you both expel them otherwise you convey them to justice. As a result of if you happen to don’t, we are going to,” Netanyahu mentioned.
Israel has assassinated lots of Hamas’s prime army and political leaders within the final two years, similar to prime political chief Yahya Sinwar; army commander Mohammed Deif, one of many founders of the Qassam Brigades within the Nineties; and political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
Qatar has condemned Netanyahu’s “reckless” feedback relating to Qatar’s internet hosting of the Hamas workplace. “Netanyahu is totally conscious that the internet hosting of the Hamas workplace occurred inside the framework of Qatar’s mediation efforts requested by the USA and Israel,” the international ministry mentioned in a press release on Wednesday.
It additionally referred to as out “the shameful try therein to justify the cowardly assault that focused Qatari territory, in addition to the specific threats of future violations of state sovereignty”.
Netanyahu’s threats got here regardless of the US President Donald Trump on Tuesday saying no additional assaults would occur on Qatari soil.
The assault on Tuesday was the primary such assault by Israel on Qatar, which has been a key mediator in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and hosts the area’s largest United States army base, Al Udeid airbase, which hosts US troops.
The Qatari prime minister, who can be the international minister of the Gulf nation, has dubbed Israel’s concentrating on of Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday “state terrorism”.
“I’ve no phrases to specific how enraged we’re from such an motion … we’re betrayed,” he mentioned within the interview with the cable community.
Netanyahu “must be dropped at justice. He’s the one who’s wished on the Worldwide Legal Court docket. He broke each worldwide legislation,” Sheikh Mohammed mentioned, referring to the arrest warrant towards the Israeli prime minister for conflict crimes.
Arab states specific solidarity with Qatar
In the meantime, Gulf leaders have visited Doha to rally round Qatar, with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan calling the Israeli motion “legal” and a risk to regional stability.
In a gathering on Wednesday with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha, Sheikh Al Nahyan reaffirmed his nation’s “resolute solidarity with Qatar and its steadfast assist for all measures taken to safeguard its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the security of its individuals”, in line with the UAE state media outlet WAM.
“He [Sheikh Al Nahyan] confused that the legal assault constituted a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and of all worldwide legal guidelines and norms, warning that such actions threaten the area’s safety, stability, and prospects for peace,” WAM added.
The crown princes of Kuwait and Jordan additionally travelled to Doha on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also called MBS, will arrive in Doha on Thursday.
“We are going to stand with the State of Qatar in all measures it takes, with out limits, and we are going to harness all our capabilities for that,” Prince Mohammed mentioned in an deal with to the Shura Council on Wednesday.
“We reject and condemn the assaults of the Israeli occupation within the area, the most recent of which was the brutal aggression towards the State of Qatar,” the crown prince added.
“This requires Arab, Islamic, and worldwide motion to confront this aggression and to take worldwide measures to cease the occupation authority and deter it from its legal practices geared toward destabilising the area’s safety and stability.”
In a short interview with reporters on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump mentioned he was “not thrilled” about Israel’s strike.
“This was a call made by [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a call made by me,” Trump wrote on his Fact Social platform.
Nonetheless, it stays unclear whether or not the Trump administration had been caught off guard, whether or not the US had indicated even tacit approval for such a strike, or if the assault might symbolize a rupture in Washington’s “ironclad” assist for Israel.
Unbiased Center East Analyst Adam Shapiro mentioned if the US was not made conscious of the assault, it was not “one thing new”.
“I believe that is simply merely the best way Israel regularly acts because the tail wagging the US canine, doing what it needs, when it needs, and getting what it desires, in line with a double normal,” he advised Al Jazeera.
