Newsletters
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani delivered sharp criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League on Monday, accusing him of harboring dangerous delusions about regional dominance following what Qatar described as an Israeli attack on its territory.
The extraordinary gathering in Doha was called in response to what the Qatari emir characterized as a "major attack" targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar last week. The summit, attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan among other regional leaders, began with a recitation from the Quran before Sheikh Tamim delivered his opening address.
"This attack is both a clear violation of state sovereignty and a trampling of international law. This attack is cowardly aggression," the emir said, describing the assault as leaving citizens and regional residents stunned.
Sheikh Tamim directly challenged Israeli leadership's broader strategic goals in the Middle East. "Netanyahu dreams of turning the Arab region into Israel's sphere of influence. This is a dangerous delusion," he said during his keynote remarks.
The Qatari leader characterized the Israeli actions as part of a broader pattern of escalation. "Israel's aggression is blatant, treacherous and cowardly. Israel's war against Gaza has now turned into genocide," he stated.
The emir detailed Qatar's role as a mediator in efforts to end what he called the destructive war against Palestinians in Gaza. He noted that negotiations between Israel and Hamas, supported by Egypt and the United States, had shown promise in securing prisoner releases.
"Israel and Hamas were about to reach an agreement with contributions from Egypt and the United States. These efforts resulted in the release of many prisoners. However, Israel stubbornly continues to persist in war," Sheikh Tamim said.
The Qatari leader posed pointed questions about Israeli intentions regarding the negotiation process. "Have you ever heard of such aggression? A country that conducts negotiations, that is part of this process, attacks the place where negotiations are taking place," he said.
"If Israel plans to target Hamas leaders through assassination, why is it conducting negotiations? If you want the prisoners to be released, why are you killing all the negotiators?" Sheikh Tamim asked. "While we host Israeli delegations in our country, they launch attacks against Qatar with drones and warplanes. There is no need to ask more questions about this. This is just a cowardly attack and there is no point in dealing with such a party."
2 min read
2 min read
