Emergency Summit in Qatar: Arab Nations Respond to Israeli Airstrike

Tue Oct 21 2025 04:08:37 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

An urgent meeting of Arab and Islamic leaders is convening in Qatar to address the recent Israeli airstrike targeting Hamas leaders. This summit comes as tensions escalate in the region.

In response to the Israeli airstrike on Hamas leaders in Doha, an emergency summit has been organized in Qatar with Arab and Islamic nations. The leaders are discussing a draft resolution that condemns Israel's actions, which they describe as 'genocide' and 'ethnic cleansing.' While the potential for military response is unlikely, the Qatari Prime Minister is urging the global community to act against what he calls 'double standards.' The situation escalates as the UN Security Council also condemns the strike, emphasizing the need for de-escalation.

An emergency meeting of Arab and Islamic states is taking place in Qatar in response to Israel's air strike on Hamas leaders in Doha last week.

A draft resolution seen by the Reuters news agency condemns what it calls Israel's 'hostile acts including genocide, ethnic cleansing, [and] starvation', which it says threatens 'prospects of peace and coexistence'. Israel has strongly denied such allegations.

It is not clear what practical decisions could be taken, as analysts say any kind of military response is out of the question.

Earlier, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani urged the international community to stop applying 'double standards' and to punish Israel.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said that 'Qatar has been a very great ally. Israel and everybody else, we have to be careful. When we attack people we have to be careful.'

During his visit to Israel, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed that Trump 'didn't like the way [the Qatar attack] went down'.

The Israeli strike on Qatar's capital was last week condemned by the UN Security Council, which underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed solidarity with Qatar.

Israel defended its action, with President Isaac Herzog stating that the strike was necessary to 'remove some of the people if they are not willing to get a deal' to end the war.

Five members of Hamas’s negotiating team were killed in the attack, including the son of the group's chief negotiator. A Qatari security officer also died.

Qatar has played a key role in brokering diplomatic efforts to end the war, serving as a mediator of indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel.