Qatar hosts an emergency Arab-Islamic summit after Israeli strikes

Qatar announced the outfit, on September 14 and 15 in Doha, of an extraordinary Arab-Islamic summit to define a “united action” in the face of the Israeli strikes which targeted its capital. The decision was confirmed by President Emirati Mohammed Ben Zayed, received Wednesday by emir Tamim Ben Hamad Al Thani.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Ben Abdelrahmane Al Thani denounced a “cowardly” and “barbaric” attack, promising a concerted response and warning against a possible Doha mediator’s role in the conflict in Gaza. Several sources evoke the possibility of collective sanctions, going as far as the rupture of diplomatic and financial links with Israel.

According to local media, the meeting of Doha must allow Arab and Muslim leaders to harmonize their political, economic and security response, while the Israeli strikes have also affected several countries of the region in recent days. Discussions could focus on coordinated measures to strengthen the protection of Gulf capitals and their strategic infrastructure. Many observers also point out that this crisis tests relations between Washington and its allies in the Gulf. Doha said that his first contact with an American official had only intervened ten minutes after the attack, fueling questions about the United States’s ability to guarantee the security of its regional partners.

For many analysts, the Israeli aggression against Doha illustrates a forward flight from an Israeli government cornered on the inner front and internationally. By extending violence to the heart of the Gulf, Tel Aviv takes the risk of unprecedented diplomatic isolation and a regional return of flame which could permanently weaken its strategic position already weakened by the growing anger of the Arab and Muslim world.