Qatar hosts summit in response to Israeli strike on Hamas in Doha, seeking to restrain such attacks
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
- Qatar’s ruler delivered an unusually fiery speech accusing Israel of making Gaza “no longer livable” and assassinating negotiators.
- Despite attendance from regional powers, the group has few tools to actually restrain Israel’s military operations.
DUBAI — Qatar hosted a summit of leaders of Arab and Islamic nations Monday in the hopes of presenting a united response to Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha last week. But as leaders offered different views about what to do, the group has few ways to restrain Israel in its war in Gaza.
Israel launched its invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, and since then it has also retaliated against the militant group and other members of Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance elsewhere, including in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and now Qatar. That’s led to wider anger among Mideast nations already enraged by the more than 64,000 Palestinians killed during the war in Gaza — and a growing concern that the U.S. commitment to protect Gulf Arab states may not be strong enough.
However, it remains unclear just what the summit will be able to achieve. Significant tensions among the nations meeting could blunt cooperation — and they also have few levers they can pull. Condemnations from countries that Israel considers enemies, like Iran, will mean little.
For years, Persian Gulf nations staked their defense on one thing above all: A U.S.
Meanwhile, the nations attending that have diplomatic recognition deals with Israel may be reluctant to sever ties. Monday marked the fifth anniversary of the signing by Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates of the Abraham Accords that marked their formal recognition of Israel.
“Condemnations will not stop the missiles. Declarations will not free Palestine,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “Severe, punitive actions must be put in place.”
Qatar’s ruler offers fiery speech
Qatar’s ruling emir opened the summit by accusing Israel of not caring about its hostages held in Gaza and instead only working to ”ensure Gaza is no longer livable.” Israel has said the goals of its war include bringing all the hostages back and defeating Hamas.
“If Israel wishes to assassinate the Hamas leaders, why then engage in negotiations?” Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani asked. “If you wish to insist on the liberation of hostages, why then do they assassinate all negotiators?”
The speech was unusually fiery for the 45-year-old ruler of Qatar, which has served as key mediator in an effort to reach a ceasefire in the war.
“There is no room to deal with such a party that’s cowardly and treacherous,” he added.
He also denounced Israel over what he called the “genocide” it is committing in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies it is committing genocide. It says Hamas is prolonging the war by not surrendering and releasing the hostages.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Israel “should also be squeezed economically, as previous experience shows that such steps yield results.”
Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike in Doha, Qatar, was to avenge Oct. 7. “The days are over when terror leaders can enjoy immunity,” he said.
After the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites in June, Iran struck Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a major hub for American forces — a move that angered Qatar. Nevertheless, Iran sent President Masoud Pezeshkian to attend Monday’s meeting. He urged those there to “isolate the aggressor.”
Pezeshkian did not touch on Iran’s attack on Qatar but did mention Israel’s war on Iran in June. He also warned that any country in the region could be next.
“The attack on Doha changed lots of miscalculations and wrong ideas,” he said. “It showed that no Arab or Muslim country is safe from the aggression of the regime in Tel Aviv. Tomorrow it can be any Arab or Muslim capital’s turn.”
Qatar, an energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that hosted the 2022 World Cup, long has served as an intermediary in conflicts. For years, it has hosted Hamas’ political leadership at the request of the U.S., providing a channel for Israel to negotiate with the militant group that has controlled Gaza for years.
But as the Israel-Hamas war has raged on, Qatar increasingly has been criticized by hard-liners within Netanyahu’s government. Netanyahu himself has vowed to strike all those who organized the Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023. And since last week’s strike, the Israeli leader has doubled down on saying Qatar remains a possible target if Hamas leaders are there.
Gambrell writes for the Associated Press.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
Kim, an attorney and former San Francisco supervisor, is running against State Sen. Benjamin Allen for the role of running California’s long-beleaguered Department of Insurance. In this episode she talks to Rebuilding L.A. host Kate Cagle about why she should get the job.
The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.
Modern LA earned its first smoggy nickname 450 years ago, as the “bay of smokes.” At the La Brea tar pits, we take a short walk through a long history with curator Regan Dunn, who explains how and why the first Angelenos would have set fires that filled the broad bowl of LA and foretold the curse of smog.
