Doha Summit: Arab and Islamic Nations Meet After Israeli Strike on Qatar Amid Abraham Accords Anniversary

Less than a week has passed since the Israeli attack on Qatar, and already a joint summit of the Arab League and other Islamic countries is being held in the capital, Doha. Call it coincidence or something else, but this summit comes on the fifth anniversary of the signing of the “Abraham Accords.”

It should be remembered that in 2021, as a result of the Abraham Accords, Israel and several Arab countries announced the establishment of normal relations.

This meeting is taking place at a time when political tensions between Middle Eastern countries and Israel are intensifying. Israel’s war in Gaza has entered its third year, while other countries in the region are also suffering from its devastation.

Last week, Israel attacked Qatar, which had been mediating efforts to end the Gaza war. Prior to this, Israel had already launched strikes on Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, and Syria.

Despite the Israeli attack, Doha has expressed its determination to continue its mediation efforts with Cairo and Washington to stop the Gaza war.

On Sunday, during a closed-door session of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers in Doha, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani urged the international community to abandon its “double standards.”

He said, “What encourages Israel to continue its behavior is the silence of the international community and its failure to hold Israel accountable.”

While some hope that serious measures will be taken in this regard, many others are doubtful that Arab countries will present a united response.

The Doha summit is being jointly organized by the 22-member Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.



Arab Force








On Sunday, the foreign ministers of member states discussed a draft resolution concerning last Tuesday’s Israeli attack on Qatar, which will be presented for approval at an emergency Arab-Islamic summit.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is reportedly once again trying to gain Arab countries’ support for the formation of a NATO-style “Joint Arab Force.” Analysts are calling it the “Arab NATO,” intended to defend any Arab country against potential aggression.

According to Pakistan’s state news agency, Ishaq Dar stated that in order to monitor Israeli planning in the region and effectively curb its expansionist agenda, an Arab-Islamic task force must be established and coordinated, aggressive measures must be adopted.

Qatar’s former Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, in a message on X, stressed the importance of Arab and other Islamic countries adopting clear and practical decisions at the summit.

He said that at the Doha summit, decisions must be made to end Israel’s reckless attacks against different countries under the pretext of fighting terrorism, as well as its hatred towards the Arab and Islamic world.


Hamas Calls for Boycott of Israel







Meanwhile, Hamas has called on Arab and Islamic foreign ministers, as well as influential powers worldwide, to boycott Israel and work to isolate it politically and economically. It has also demanded an end to Israel’s open violations of international law.

In a memorandum issued on Sunday, Hamas demanded that international pressure be applied to stop Israeli “aggression and genocide of Palestinians” in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, and that Israeli leaders be prosecuted in international courts.

Hamas leader Izzat al-Risheq urged participants at the Doha summit to express historic consensus to halt “genocide in Gaza” and crimes of Zionist occupation in the West Bank, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Tunisia, and Qatar.

He said the Israeli prime minister is pushing the entire region to the brink of destruction in order to achieve the “Greater Israel” project, reshape the Middle East, and establish dominance.


Arab Governments Do Not Understand the Language Israel and the U.S. Understand







However, some believe that the Doha summit will prove useless, and criticism has also been directed at the Qatari prime minister’s visit to Washington following the Israeli attack.

Yemeni politician and academic Sheikh Hussein Hazib expressed similar views. Criticizing the Doha summit, he said this alliance would be “stillborn.”

He pointed towards the use of force, saying that Arab governments “do not understand the language that Israel and the U.S. understand.”

A social media user named Hamad Nasser Muneef also said he expects nothing more than condemnation from the summit.

Yahya Sinwar’s Major Achievement

This summit coincides with the fifth anniversary of the Abraham Accords. Although the agreement has survived despite the Gaza war, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy has said the deal is facing new complications. These include the indefinite suspension of talks to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

In a recent report published in September, the institute stated that the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar succeeded in linking efforts to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia with the Palestinian issue, by capitalizing on Arab anger over the Gaza war.

The report added that as long as Israel’s campaign continues in Gaza without any possibility of Palestinian governance, there is little chance of expanding the Abraham Accords—particularly in terms of achieving normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.