Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has mentioned that there have to be a “collective response” to Israel’s assault on the Qatari capital Doha, as Arab leaders rushed to the Gulf nation to precise solidarity.
“There’s a response that can occur from the area. This response is at the moment below session and dialogue with different companions within the area,” he advised US media outlet CNN on Wednesday, including that “the 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 kind of regional assembly might be held right here in Qatar. We all know that the nations have pulled collectively their very own authorized workforce. They’re all authorized avenues to have Netanyahu tried for breaking worldwide legislation,” Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford mentioned.
“So yeah, the strain is unquestionably mounting on Israel, not solely from Qatar, however clearly on a regional and a wider worldwide degree. 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 have been assembly to debate the most recent Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by US President Donald Trump. At the least seven folks have been killed within the assault, however Hamas mentioned its management survived the assassination bid. Qatar says two of its safety officers have been killed within the assault that has drawn world condemnation.
On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Israel’s assault in a telephone 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 12 months. On Wednesday, Israel killed 35 folks 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 nations that they might not be spared sooner or later if armed teams within the area are defeated.
“We’re on the aspect 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 “Higher Israel” in giant components of the Center East.
The “Higher 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, components 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 at the very least 72 folks, taking the full variety of Palestinians killed since October 2023 to greater than 64,656. Israel has intensified its assault to seize Gaza Metropolis – residence to multiple 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 part concerning the assembly may 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 concerning the 20 captives believed to be nonetheless alive in Gaza.
Netanyahu seems unfazed
Nevertheless, Netanyahu seems unfazed by the criticism from world leaders, together with the UN secretary-general.
On Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister threatened additional assaults on Qatar. “I say to Qatar and all nations who harbour terrorists, you both expel them otherwise you carry them to justice. As a result of in case you 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, comparable 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 befell throughout the framework of Qatar’s mediation efforts requested by the USA and Israel,” the overseas 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 express 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 overseas 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 precise 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 needed 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 warfare 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 “felony” and a menace 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 folks”, based on the UAE state media outlet WAM.
“He [Sheikh Al Nahyan] confused that the felony 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, often known as MBS, will arrive in Doha on Thursday.
“We’ll 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 felony practices geared toward destabilising the area’s safety and stability.”
In a quick interview with reporters on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump mentioned he was “not thrilled” about Israel’s strike.
“This was a choice made by [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a choice 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 signify a rupture in Washington’s “ironclad” assist for Israel.
Impartial 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, based on a double normal,” he advised Al Jazeera.
