Leaders of Arab and Muslim nations gathered in Doha on Monday for an emergency summit, denouncing Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar as a violation of sovereignty and international law, while urging a unified response to the escalating Gaza war.
The joint Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit was called by Qatar to pile pressure on Israel, which has been facing mounting calls to end the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Hamas says top officials survived last week's air strike in Doha, which killed six people and triggered a wave of criticism, including a rebuke from US President Donald Trump.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun was among the first to arrive, highlighting Lebanon’s alignment with regional efforts to confront Israel’s actions. Prominent US businessman Tom Barrack, who also attended, praised Qatar’s role in mediation and said the summit “sends a strong message of Arab and Islamic unity to the international community.”
Opening the meeting, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani described the Israeli strike as “blatant, treacherous, cowardly aggression” aimed at sabotaging ongoing ceasefire talks.
He warned that Israel’s war on Gaza had become a campaign of “genocide” and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of harboring the “dangerous illusion” of turning the Arab world into an Israeli sphere of influence.
Qatar has been a key mediator in talks to end the war in Gaza, alongside Egypt and the United States, and the Israeli strike came as Hamas officials were discussing a new US proposal.
"Whoever works diligently and systematically to assassinate the party with whom he is negotiating intends to thwart the negotiations," Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said in his opening remarks.
"Negotiations, for them, are merely part of the war."
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, was among those present, as were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit urged the world to end its “silence,” saying Israel’s unchecked actions had emboldened it to spread “destruction from one country to another.” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi condemned Israeli “belligerence” against Qatar, while Jordan’s King Abdullah II called for a “clear, decisive and deterring” response.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani proposed a NATO-style collective security pact for Arab and Islamic states, under which an attack on one would be treated as aggression against all. He urged the creation of a joint committee to press the United Nations for action and to build a roadmap toward a ceasefire.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israeli leaders of pursuing “massacres” and dragging the region into chaos. He called for economic pressure, greater self-sufficiency in the Arab and Islamic world, and legal efforts to hold Israeli officials accountable.
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