QATAR - Leaders from across the region are gathering in the Qatari capital to discuss a formal response to Israel’s strikes on Doha last week,...
which it said targeted Hamas leadership and reverberated through the Middle East and beyond. Israel launched the missiles as Hamas members gathered in their Doha office to discuss a deal proposed by United States President Donald Trump to end Israel’s two-year genocidal war on Gaza. The attack came hours after Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed Israel had accepted the Trump proposal, which would release all 48 captives held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and a ceasefire. Israel killed five Hamas members and a Qatari security official in the attack, although it did not kill the Hamas leadership it said it was targeting. The United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned the attack last Thursday.
Qatar has invited leaders from Arab and Islamic countries for meetings that will culminate in the emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that “the summit will discuss a draft resolution on the Israeli attack” that signifies another instance of “state terrorism practiced by Israel”. A meeting of foreign ministers on Sunday will work on the draft, which is expected to add to the international chorus of condemnation for the Israeli attack. Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who met Trump in New York last Friday, said Qatar will pursue a collective response to the attack, which has put the entire region at risk. Qatar has long had a mediation role, working to end Israel’s war on Gaza and generate regional unity. In the meetings on Sunday and Monday, it will leverage pro-Palestinian sentiment and opposition to Israel’s attacks that have been expressed across the region. The full list of dignitaries in attendance on Monday is yet to be confirmed. (Al Jazeera/AP)