Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani denounced Israel on Sept. 14, ahead of the emergency summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Doha today. He said Qatar remained committed to working with Egypt and the United States to reach a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war that has devastated the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ attack on Israel nearly two years ago. However, he said that the Israeli strike that killed six people—five members of Hamas and a local Qatari security force member—represented “an attack on the principle of mediation itself,” reported AP.
“This attack can only be described as state terrorism, an approach pursued by the current extremist Israeli government, which flouts international law,” the minister said. “The reckless and treacherous Israeli aggression was committed while the state of Qatar was hosting official and public negotiations, with the knowledge of the Israeli side itself, and with the aim of achieving a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Al Thani stressed the moment had come for consequences to Israel’s attacks in the wider Middle East. “It is time for the international community to stop applying double standards and punish Israel for all the crimes it has committed,” he said in footage later released by Qatar’s government from the closed-door meeting.
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit separately criticized Israel and warned that “silence in the face of a crime ... paves the way for more crimes.”
