Doha summit for reviewing diplomatic, economic ties with Israel

DOHA: Arab and Muslim leaders called on Monday for reviewing diplomatic and economic ties with Israel after its unprecedented Doha attack in Qatar as they also stressed the need for implementing the two-state solution.

On the other hand, reports emerged, which can damage the US standing in Middle East, on Monday that claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed President Donald Trump that Israel planned to attack Hamas leaders in Qatar before last week’s strike occurred, Axios reported on Monday, citing Israeli officials.

Read more: Netanyahu informed Trump before before Doha attack

The Arab-Islamic summit in Doha adopted a declaration which called “upon all States to take all possible legal and effective measures to prevent Israel from continuing its actions against the Palestinian people.

Read more: ‘Greater Israel’: Arabs denounce Netanyahu, Saudis reject ‘colonisation’

For this purpose, the declaration suggested “reviewing diplomatic and economic relations with it, and initiating legal proceedings against it”.

It also rejected the attempts to justify the Israeli aggression under any pretext and repeated threats of the possibility of targeting Qatar again.

Read more: Shehbaz in Qatar, calls for unity amid Israeli provocations

As far the two-state solution is concerned, the declaration said sustainable in the region was impossible to achieve without establishing a Palestinian state.

Read more: UNGA supports future Palestinian state but without Hamas

GCC JOINT DEFENCE MECHANISM

Separately, a consultative meeting of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was also held in Doha on Monday on the sidelines of the Arab-Islamic summit.

Read more: GGC condemns planned annexation of occupied West Bank

Later, Reuters reported that the Gulf leaders said on Monday that the GCC’s joint defence body will meet in Doha.

In a statement, the leaders called for measures to activate the bloc’s “joint defence mechanism,” without providing further details.

“The [GCC] Supreme Council affirmed the full solidarity of the GCC states with the State of Qatar in all measures it takes to confront this attack,” a communique read.

It also stressed that “the security of the GCC states is indivisible, and that any attack on any one of them is an attack on them all, in accordance with the GCC Charter and the Joint Defence Agreement.”

ISRAELI SPHERE OF INFLUENCE

Earlier, Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani told the Arab-Islamic summit that Netanyahu was dreaming of “the Arab region becoming an Israeli sphere of influence”.

“This is a dangerous illusion,” he said in his opening remarks at the extraordinary Arab-Islamic summit and added, “Israel continues its intransigence and insistence on continuing the war.”

In his opening remarks, the Qatari emir described the Doha attack as “blatant, treacherous, cowardly” aggression, adding that Israel’s war on Gaza had turned into a “war of extermination”.

The comments came as the summit began with the leaders from the member states reaching Qatar after the unprovoked and unjustified air strike on the Gulf State — the latest in the unending series of Israeli aggression in the volatile Middle East.

In this connection, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif too arrived in Doha to attend the Arab-Islamic summit called to devise an effective response to the unending and expanding Israeli strikes in the region with the Doha attack being the main focus.

The prime minister told the gathering that Israel should be held accountable for the war crimes, including genocide, it was committing.

Expressing Pakistan’s full support to Qatar, Shehbaz said Israel had severely damaged the ongoing peace efforts through the Doha attack which, he added, was a continuation of the continued unchecked aggression.

The prime minister also said that Pakistan supported the suggestion to press for suspending the UN membership of Israel.

Earlier on Sunday, as Pakistan called for holding Israel “accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity”, as the foreign ministers of the nations attending the gathering held a preparatory meeting to prepare a draft for the Arab-Islamic summit.

Read more: Pakistan for Arab-Islamic task force to check Israel’s designs

PUNITIVE ACTIONS, NOT DIPLOMATIC ENGAGEMENTS

Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim suggested more aggressive approach to deal with Israel, suggesting that diplomatic engagements and relations with Israel must cease.

In this connection, Ibrahim also cited the growing public anger.

“Our people have become wary of words. They have watched us issue condemnation after condemnation, declaration after declaration, while Israel escalates with impunity.”

He said condemnations and declarations won’t work as they were not going to stop or free Palestine. “Severe, punitive actions must be put in place,” the Malaysian prime minister stressed.

As far as Indonesia is concerned, Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka urged the UN Security Council “to fulfill its mandate by taking firm and urgent measures to ensure accountability and prevent any recurrence”.

CONTINUING WITH IMPUNITY

On the other hand, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Doha attack was not “spur of the moment” but part of the policies of Israel and the “impunity they have been enjoying”.

Pezeshkian also talked about focusing on “weak condemnation” only which, he said, was allowing Israel to continue with its attacks with impunity.

That’s why the Iranian president called for collective action. “We should act together in order to stand up to Israeli demeanors as Israel has violated the sovereignty of a number of Arab and Muslim states under the false pretext of self-defence.”

Pezeshkian stressed the need for unity, but noted that this unity must not only be based on their shared religion but also on the shared tenets of humanity.

DRAGGING THE REGION INTO CHAOS

Addressing the summit, Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Israel believed that no could question its actions.

Israel’s expansionist designs were a grave threat to the region and the entire world, Erdogan told the summit and said no one could accept “the displacement of the Palestinian people, their genocide or partition”.

At the same time, Erdogan also talked about how Israel wants to “drag the region into chaos”.

“It has become clear that the Netanyahu government aims to continue the massacres against the Palestinian people and drag the region into chaos.”

Meanwhile, Erdogan also provided some solutions to deal with Israel and its expansionist designs.

For this purpose, he called for achieving self-sufficiency in development and intensifying cooperation in these areas as well as developing a mechanism for joint cooperation among Muslim countries.

On the other hand, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said there was no choice but to take practical steps to stop the Israeli aggression as he highlighted the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

The war crimes committed by Israel have crossed all red lines, Abbas said and added that “we call for practical measures to prevent any recurrence of these violations”.

He also noted that Netanyahu “cannot be a partner to peace”.

“The radical far-right government of Israel cannot be a partner to peace and security in our region. This demands a firm Arab and Muslim position and firm intervention by the US and the UN Security Council to bring the rogue state [Israel] and its behavior to an end.”

ALL RED LINES CROSSED

Similarly, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said Israel had “crossed all red lines” while King Abdullah II of Jordan said, “Our response must be clear, decisive and above all deterring.” 

Read more: Dar blasts Greater Israel plan, calls for two-state solution

Sisi, meanwhile, also made it clear that “Israel must understand its security and sovereignty will not be achieved by force, but rather by respecting the law and the sovereignty of states”.

At the same time, Sisi said Israel’s current actions hindered any chances of new peace treaties in the Middle East — in an indirect snub to Trump who wants all the Gulf States to join the Abraham Accords.

“What is happening right now hinders the future of peace, threatens your security and the security of the peoples in the region and adds obstacles to chances for any new peace agreements and even aborts existing ones.”

On the other hand, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani proposed a NATO-like collective security response to attacks on any Arab or Muslim country.

He warned that any failure to deter Israel would lead to further instability and will not achieve security for any party”.

Meanwhile, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit stressed that silence wasn’t an option, saying “silence to criminality is per se a crime. Silence to the violation of international law undermines the international system.”

ISRAEL’S EXPANSIONIST DESIGNS

To check the expansionist designs, Pakistan on Sunday suggested creation of “an Arab-Islamic task force” and adopting “effective deterrent and offensive measures”.

In his speech, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said, “Israel’s actions reek of an unabashed aggressor that is hell bent on achieving its heinous objectives and is unbothered if that pursuit topples the entire edifice of international order. No state is safe from such an unhinged entity that defies all precepts of civilized behaviour.”

On the other hand, Monday also saw US Secretary of State Marco Rubio again assuring Israel of “unwavering support” support in achieving its Gaza goals.

Read more: US promises ‘unwavering support’ to Israel in Gaza goals