The September 9 Israeli airstrike on Qatar was condemned by the international community. Member states of the League of Arab States (LAS) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held an emergency meeting on September 14-15.
Israel strikes, the US is surprised, and Qatar protests
In Doha, with the mediation of the Qatari authorities, the United States held talks with Hamas leaders on the conflict in Gaza; however, the parties cannot come to a compromise. Hamas does not plan to hand over all the surviving and deceased hostages to Israel in exchange for their own destruction and the mass deportation of Arabs, and Israel is not going to leave Gaza to the Palestinians.
There can be no success in such a negotiation process—it resembles a conversation between a deaf person and a mute person—the parties can only resolve local issues (such as a temporary ceasefire, humanitarian aid delivery, recovery of dead bodies, etc.). Israel has repeatedly expressed its determination to totally destroy Hamas and launch a major offensive in Gaza. The IDF has launched Operation Gideon’s Chariots II and is carrying out massive strikes on multi-storey residential buildings in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, the Israeli intelligence services take every opportunity to destroy the leaders of Hamas regardless of place and time.
Accordingly, the Israeli air strikes on Doha on September 9, where senior Hamas officials and negotiators with the United States were living, became a “predicted sensation.” Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office said that Israel claimed responsibility for the attack on Qatar in an operation called “Peak of Fire”.
Iran and Hamas accuse the United States of Trump coordinating the Israeli attack on Doha in advance, with Washington allegedly trapping Hamas leaders under the auspices of negotiations as a target for the IDF strike. Opponents of Israel believe that Netanyahu would hardly have authorized such an audacious operation without Trump’s approval, as he would otherwise have dealt a blow to the reputation of the United States and disrupted any possibility of continuing negotiations with or without Qatar.
Trump denied such accusations, noting that the targeted strike on Doha was an Israeli initiative that caused no casualties. He added that America learned about these plans too late and that Hamas should immediately release all hostages and return the bodies of the dead without any preconditions. As for Qatar, the US president highly values friendship with Doha, considers it his ally, calls on Emir Al Thani to continue mediation efforts to resolve the conflict in Gaza, and instructed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to accelerate the deal on military assistance to Qatar.
Qatar has condemned the Israeli air attack on its capital, calling it a terrorist act and a violation of international law. Qatar’s Prime Minister Al Thani said that Doha reserves the right to respond to the Israeli attack, considers this attack a blow to the negotiation process, and has formed a team of lawyers to investigate the incident.
Qatar has announced the suspension of mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas until further notice. It seems the breakdown of negotiations was the purpose of the Israeli attack. Time will tell what happens next.
Emergency LAS-OIC summit
The Israeli operation against the Hamas negotiators in Doha provoked a negative reaction from part of the international community, while some were concerned (for example, Azerbaijan and Armenia). In addition to Qatar, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Hezbollah, the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian factions in Gaza, and the Yemeni Houthis condemned Tel Aviv. France considers the Israeli strikes on Qatar unacceptable regardless of the reasons for them, expressed solidarity with Emir Sheikh Al Thani, and opposed the regionalization of the conflict. The EU has suspended trade with Israel.
In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry noted that Israel does not seek peace; Tel Aviv pursues an expansionist policy in the region and employs a policy of state terror.
An emergency summit of the Arab League and OIC was convened in Doha on September 14-15 as a political response to Israeli aggression. A meeting of foreign ministers was held before the main meeting of leaders of Islamic countries. What were the summit’s main outcomes?
As stated in the final communique, the participants of the meeting expressed Islamic solidarity, moral and political support for Qatar; accused Israel of aggressive ambitions in the Middle East (illusions about a Greater Israel) and encroachment on the sovereignty of Qatar, Lebanon, Syria and Iran; expressed support for all possible retaliatory steps by Qatar to the Israeli strike; called on Islamic countries to sever trade and economic ties with Israel (Iranian President Pezeshkian said that the entire Islamic world should sever relations with the “Zionist regime”); offered Islamic countries party to the Rome Statute to use their membership in the ICC for the international legal prosecution of members of the Israeli government accused of genocide of the Palestinians; condemned Israel for the war in the Gaza Strip, the restriction of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, plans for the mass deportation of Arabs from Gaza, the construction of Jewish settlements on the West Bank of the Jordan River and in East Jerusalem; expressed a unified approach to the political settlement of the Palestinian issue through the establishment of the State of Palestine in accordance with the UN Resolution 1967.
At the same time, on the eve of the emergency summit, Hamas representatives expected something else, i.e., the creation of an international alliance to put pressure on Israel, the implementation of the Arab League’s joint defense treaty provisions, and the adoption of “comprehensive sanctions” against Israel.
However, the reactions of Arab and other Islamic countries show that there is no strong solidarity among them on the Palestinian issue. Iran, after the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria, and the 12-day war with Israel, has been significantly weakened and cannot provide effective military assistance to the Palestinians in their confrontation with Israel. The rest of the Arab Middle East and the Islamic world (including Türkiye), apart from loud and condemnatory statements, are unwilling (or unable) to provide military assistance to Hamas because of their dependence on the United States.
In Doha, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov only expressed concern about the recent airstrike, called for “preventing escalation” in the region and expressed support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Qatar (however, Tel Aviv does not make territorial claims to Doha, but speaks of harboring Hamas members in Qatar). Azerbaijan, despite the conflict in Gaza, continues to supply oil to Israel through Türkiye.
It cannot be ruled out that Israel’s attacks on Hamas leaders in Qatar may have been coordinated not only between Israel and the United States, but also with a number of other key countries in the Middle East. The external condemnation of Israel is a feigned demonstration. It seems that many are tired of Hamas and its terrorist methods of fighting Israel, and getting rid of fanatical leaders will accelerate the approach of peace and stability in the region. The saddest thing is that tens of thousands of innocent civilians have fallen victim to the conflict.
US answer to Islamic summit in Doha
On September 13, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel, followed by a representative delegation of 250 American lawmakers from 50 states to express strong support for Israel in the conflict with Hamas. The State Department supports a rapid IDF ground operation in the Gaza Strip to destroy Hamas and free the hostages.
It is clear that, with such a response, the United States is sending signals to its allies and non-allies from among Islamic countries about the inadmissibility of a military coalition against Israel. However, the economic isolation of Israel from the Islamic world may continue for some time. It is no coincidence that Netanyahu noted that Israel will have to be in conditions of strict economic autarky for some time.
Alexander SVARANTS – Doctor of Political Science, Professor, Turkologist, expert on the Middle East
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