Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani chairing the preparatory ministerial meeting yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: The Preparatory Ministerial Meeting of foreign ministers was held yesterday in Doha ahead of the Emergency Arab-Islamic Summit, which will convene today.
The gathering comes in direct response to the recent Israeli attack on Qatar, an assault widely condemned across the region and internationally.
The summit is expected to serve as a pivotal platform for Arab and Islamic leaders to deliver a clear message of solidarity with Qatar, while exploring concrete measures to hold Israel accountable and prevent further escalation.
The meeting was attended by Their Excellencies Ministers of Foreign Affairs of member countries of the Arab League and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani chaired the preparatory ministerial meeting.
During his remarks at the opening session of the meeting, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs that the Summit is being convened in the wake of the treacherous Israeli aggression that struck our territory in broad daylight on Tuesday, 9 September.
He said that it was an act that expresses arrogance and recklessness by violating the sovereignty of a United Nations Member State, the OIC, the Arab League member country, and a mediator in the peace process, constituting a dangerous escalation that threatens regional peace, security, and stability and undermines any efforts at de-escalation in the Middle East.
“Israel’s persistence in violating international law, human values, and diplomatic norms was manifested in the barbaric attack that took place in broad daylight in the city of Doha, in a residential area that includes homes, schools, nurseries and diplomatic missions. The attack led to the martyrdom of a member of our security services and caused civilian casualties.”
He added, “This act can only be described as state terrorism — a policy pursued by the current extremist Israeli government, which flouts international law, targets the security of the entire region, and brazenly defies international legitimacy.”
The Prime Minister noted that the reckless and treacherous Israeli aggression occurred while Qatar was hosting official, public negotiations — with the knowledge of the Israeli side itself — aimed at achieving a ceasefire in Gaza and securing the release of prisoners and hostages.
“Instead of appreciating Qatar’s efforts and preserving the progress made in those negotiations, Israel carried out an airstrike on a residential compound where members of Hamas’s negotiating team were present.”
He said that what occurred was not merely the targeting of a location but an assault on the very principle of mediation and on everything that diplomacy stands for as an alternative to war and destruction.
“Accordingly, this aggression will only derail attempts at calming the situation and confirms the Israeli government’s intention to reject peaceful paths for resolving the Palestinian issue and to continue challenging international will and the United Nations Charter — a position further evidenced by repeated statements from Israeli officials about annexing Palestinian lands and their illusions of Greater Israel.”
He further said, “Perhaps you will agree with me when I say that what encourages Israel to persist in this approach is silence — or rather the international community’s inability to hold it accountable — and the absence of consequences for any crime it commits.”
Qatar, he said, will not tolerate any breach of its sovereignty or any threat to its national security. “Qatari sovereignty is inviolable; we will confront any threat against us by all means guaranteed by international law.”
In this regard, he added, “We appreciate the solidarity shown by brotherly Arab and Islamic states and by friendly countries in the international community that condemned this brutal Israeli attack and expressed their full support for us and for the legal measures we will undertake to preserve our sovereignty.”
He said that the attack on the sovereignty of Qatar constitutes a clear violation of Article 2 of the United Nations Charter, particularly paragraph 4, which prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. “It is also a breach of diplomatic custom and of ethical and humanitarian standards, and cannot be regarded as an incidental event; rather, it is a grave precedent that must be confronted with full force and resolve by our Arab and Islamic nations.” He said that the conduct of the Israeli occupation government is devoid of humanity and can only be interpreted as an open message: that Israel has no red lines restraining its behavior, that it seeks to destabilize any state in the world and to undermine any diplomatic efforts that run counter to its agenda or expose the fragility of its position and the falsehood of its claims.
“We must not remain silent or complacent in the face of this barbaric aggression. We must take real, tangible measures across various levels to prevent further transgressions. If left unchecked, this conduct will not stop; we will inevitably find ourselves facing a chain of events that will not end in anything but blood and destruction, and no one will be spared its consequences and dangers.”
The Prime Minister said that the time has come for the international community to stop applying double standards and to hold Israel accountable for all the crimes it has committed. “Israel must learn that the ongoing war of extermination directed at the brotherly Palestinian people — which seeks to displace them from their land and forcibly expel them from their homeland — will not succeed, no matter what pretexts are invoked to justify it.”
“We reiterate what we have always maintained: this region will not enjoy security, peace, or stability, nor will its peoples feel a sense of justice, until the brotherly Palestinian people obtain their legitimate rights and establish their independent state within the borders of 1967.” “In Qatar, we affirm that mediation to resolve disputes by peaceful means is not merely a legal obligation enshrined in permanent constitutional provisions, but a humanitarian and moral duty — a firmly held principle of our policy — and that just, comprehensive and lasting peace is a strategic choice for which there can be no substitute.”
He said that that Israeli coercive and barbaric practices will not deter Qatar from continuing sincere efforts, in cooperation with Egypt and the United States, to stop this unjust war.
“Today, we must take decisive measures to stop Israel’s arrogance and its continued commission of crimes against humanity under the cover of the international community’s double standards.”
