Qatar’s ruling Emir opened the summit by accusing Israel of not caring about its hostages held in Gaza and as a substitute solely working to ”guarantee Gaza is now not livable.” Israel has mentioned the targets of its struggle embody bringing all of the hostages again and defeating Hamas.
“If Israel needs to assassinate the Hamas leaders, why then interact in negotiations?” Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani requested. “If you want 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 succeed in a ceasefire within the struggle.
“There isn’t any room to cope with such a celebration that is cowardly and treacherous,” he added. “Those who work persistently to assassinate the get together in these negotiations will definitely do every thing to make sure the failure of those negotiations. When they declare that they search the liberation of hostages, that is a mere lie.” Sheikh Tamim additionally denounced Israel over what he referred to as the “genocide” it’s committing in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies it’s committing genocide. It says Hamas is prolonging the struggle by not surrendering and releasing the hostages.
Israel launched its invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas’ October 7, 2023, assault, and since then it has additionally retaliated in opposition to the militant group and different members of Iran’s so-called Axis of Resistance elsewhere, together with in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and now Qatar.
That’s led to wider anger amongst Mideast nations already enraged by the over 64,000 Palestinians killed through the struggle in Gaza — and a rising concern that the U.S. dedication to guard Gulf Arab states is probably not robust sufficient.
However, it stays unclear simply what the summit will have the ability to obtain. Significant tensions among the many nations assembly might blunt cooperation — and so they even have few levers they’ll pull.
Condemnations from international locations that Israel considers enemies, like Iran, will imply little. Meanwhile, the nations attending which have diplomatic recognition offers with Israel could also be reluctant to sever ties.
“Considering the deep tensions between the Gulf states and different regional actors, assembling the summit in lower than per week, particularly given its scale, is a notable achievement that underscores a shared sense of urgency within the area,” the New York-based Soufan Center mentioned.
“The key query is whether or not … (the summit will) sign a shift towards extra consequential measures in opposition to Israel, together with diplomatic downgrades, focused financial actions and restrictions on airspace and entry.”
A wide range of regional leaders attended the summit, together with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa.
Iran’s presence in summit
Iran, which hit a base in Qatar in June, is attending the summit. After the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear websites in June, Iran struck Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a significant hub for American forces — a transfer that angered Qatar. Nevertheless, Iran despatched President Masoud Pezeshkian to attend Monday’s assembly. Before leaving Tehran, Pezeshkian famous the broad breadth of countries Israel has attacked since October 7.
“This regime has attacked many Islamic international locations,” he said. “It does no matter it needs, and sadly, the United States and European international locations additionally assist these actions.” Writing on the social platform X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi added: “Iran stands with Qatar and certainly all Muslim brothers and sisters, significantly in opposition to the scourge that’s terrorising the area.” Mr. Araghchi and Mr. Pezeshkian didn’t point out Iran’s assault on Qatar and obtained an honour guard welcome when touchdown in Doha.
Qatar in Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks
Qatar, an energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that hosted the 2022 World Cup, lengthy has served as an middleman in conflicts. For years, it has hosted Hamas’ political management on the request of the U.S., offering a channel for Israel to barter with the militant group that has managed Gaza for years.
But because the Israel-Hamas struggle has raged on, Qatar more and more has been criticised by hard-liners inside Netanyahu’s authorities. Mr. Netanyahu himself has vowed to strike all those that organised the Hamas-led assault on Israel in 2023. And since final week’s strike, the Israeli chief has doubled down on saying Qatar stays a potential goal if Hamas leaders are there.
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump supplied renewed assist for Qatar.
“We’re with them. You know, they have been an awesome ally,” Mr. Trump mentioned. “Lots of people do not perceive about Qatar. Qatar has been an awesome ally, and so they additionally lead a really troublesome life as a result of they’re proper in the course of every thing.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Israel on Monday (September 15, 2025) for conferences with Mr. Netanyahu and different Israeli officers to precise America’s concern over the assault on Qatar and speak about Israel’s deliberate new offensive on Gaza City.
Mr. Rubio declined to deal with Israel’s strike whereas chatting with journalists in Jerusalem, however mentioned that America needed to work with all its companions within the area on stopping Hamas and reaching a ceasefire within the struggle.
“We’re going to proceed to encourage Qatar to play a constructive position in that regard,” Mr. Rubio mentioned.
Mr. Netanyahu once more added that Israel’s choice to assault Qatar “was an entirely unbiased choice by us.” Mr. Netanyahu faces growing stress from the Israeli public to finish the struggle and produce dwelling the 48 hostages nonetheless held in Gaza, whom 20 are believed by Israel to nonetheless be alive.
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