Arab-Islamic summit today Monday unfolded in a show of solidarity with Qatar after Israeli attacks on Doha last week.
Members of both the Arab League and OIC pushed for Israel to be held accountable for its attack on Qatar.
Arab and Islamic states have condemned Israel’s “barbaric” attack on Qatar and will support Doha in the measures it will take to safeguard its sovereignty, said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.
“We appreciate the solidarity of brotherly Arab and Islamic countries and friendly countries from the international community that condemned this barbaric Israeli attack,” Sheikh Mohammed said on Sunday. “It expressed its full support for us and the legitimate legal measures we will take to preserve the sovereignty of our country.”
The Qatari Prime Minister, who is also the foreign minister, made the comments as foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries convened in Doha before their leaders hold an emergency summit on Monday in response to Israel’s attack on Qatar last week.
The Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) session opened not with ceremony but with urgency, as the delegates came together in a city suddenly thrust into the heart of a regional confrontation.
Israel’s strikes on Tuesday killed five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer.
“It’s time for the international community to abandon dual standards and to hold Israel accountable for all the crimes it has committed,” Sheikh Mohammed said at a meeting inside the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the heart of the city, adding that the attack must be met with “fierce” and “firm” measures.
Delegates from the Arab League and the OIC are collaborating on a joint resolution that will specify concrete measures against Israel. The details of this resolution are expected to be revealed on Monday.
The Qatari Prime Minister also chided Israel’s alleged derailment of Gaza ceasefire talks, stating: “Israel must know that the continuous genocidal war against the Palestinian people, aiming at forcibly transferring them outside their homeland, cannot succeed, no matter what false justification is provided.”
E-mail address
Subscribe
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy
There are expectations that the summit will yield a unified and forceful response to Israel’s attack.
Qatar is a major non-NATO ally of the US and hosts the largest US military facility at the Al Udeid airbase.
For his part, US President Donald Trump reaffirmed his support for Qatar on Sunday, saying that the nation has been an important ally.
“We are with them. You know, they have been a great ally,” Trump told reporters at Morristown airport in New Jersey,
“People don’t understand that about Qatar, but Qatar has been a great ally, and they also lead a very difficult life because they are right in the middle of everything. So… they have to be a little politically correct in their terms, but I will tell you, they have been a great ally for the United States.”
AL JAZEERA
