The emergency Arab-Islamic summit kicked off in Doha on Monday in wake of Israel’s attack on the Qatar capital last week where it targeted Hamas leaders.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani opened the summit, slamming Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and accusing them of rejecting peace with the region and wanting to impose its will on it.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II stressed the need for the summit to come up with urgent practical resolutions that would end this danger and the war on Gaza and prevent the displacement of the Palestinian people.
He expressed Jordan’s “absolute” support for Qatar, saying its security was indivisible to the kingdom’s.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said: “Israel’s ever-growing arrogance demands work that reflects our common vision. Now is the time to seriously deal with and resolve the Palestinian cause.”
He reiterated Egypt’s rejection of any proposals that would lead to the displacement of Palestinians from their land.
He strongly condemned the Israeli attack on Doha, saying Israel’s brazenness will only inflame the conflict and destabilize the region.
“It is time for Israel to realize that its security and sovereignty will not be achieved by force, but through respecting laws and the sovereignty of others,” he declared.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Israel is carrying out its attacks under the pretext of self-defense.
“The double standards of international law have allowed it to continue its aggression,” he noted, accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing.
“Arab and Islamic countries must stand united against Israel,” he demanded.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged intensified diplomatic efforts to hold Israel to account and put its officials on trial.
He warned that Israel’s growing aggression is a threat to the entire region and that even the Israeli government’s closest allies have spoken out against its extremism.
Moreover, he said Israel’s expansionist policy and aggression can only be stopped through “strong deterrence,” calling on Arab and Islamic countries to bolster their military defense industries.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said the attack on Qatar sends a negative message that deliberately kills opportunities to achieve peaceful solutions.
“The security and stability of any Arab or Islamic country is indivisible from our collective security,” he declared.
He proposed the drafting of a comprehensive roadmap for a ceasefire in Gaza and the formation of a joint Arab-Islamic committee that can deliver their message to the Security Council and other international bodies.
Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Hissein Brahim Taha demanded that the United Nations Security Council hold Israel accountable for its crimes.
The summit is an opportunity to take a “united and firm stance against the heinous Israeli attack,” he added.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that “silence over criminality is the real crime.”
“Silence over the violation of the law undermines the entire global system,” he warned, saying this silence had led to the “crimes and barbarism in Gaza over the past two years.”
Israeli leaders now believed that they can do whatever they want with impunity, he lamented.
“It is a duty of every Arab and Muslim to rise up against this cowardly and lowly act,” he added, referring to the attack on Doha.
“We are sending a message to the international community: Enough silence over the practices of his state that has inflamed the region,” he said.
Moreover, he stated that the Israeli attack on Qatar has crossed all red lines and all humanitarian principles. “There is nothing noble or honorable about attacking a negotiator state.”
