Qatar to world: Stop using double standards

Dubai: Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Sunday urged the international community to “stop using double standards” and punish Israel for what he described as its “crimes”.

He was speaking at a preparatory meeting on the eve of an emergency summit of Arab and Islamic leaders organised by Qatar after Israel carried out an unprecedented air strike on Hamas leaders in Doha.

“The time has come for the international community to stop using double standards and to punish Israel for all the crimes it has committed, and Israel needs to know that the ongoing war of extermination that our brotherly Palestinian people is being subjected to, and whose aim is to expel them from their land, will not work,” the prime minister said.

He said that the meeting condemned Israel’s “barbaric” attack and backed Qatar’s right to protect its sovereignty, calling for strong, decisive measures in response to the assault.

The meeting stressed that Israel’s genocidal campaign to displace Palestinians will not succeed. It warned that that Israel’s rejection of peace proposals is dangerously widening the conflict across the region.

Qatar is hosting an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday in response to the Israeli strike.

Earlier, Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari, spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, told the state news agency QNA that the timing of the summit underscores “broad Arab and Islamic solidarity with the State of Qatar.”

On Tuesday, Israel targeted a residential compound in Doha housing senior Hamas officials, killing five Hamas members and a Qatari security guard. The leaders were reportedly meeting to discuss a new US proposal for ending the Gaza war.

Jamal Rushdi, spokesperson for the Arab League’s secretary-general, said the summit aims to send a strong message of solidarity with Qatar and highlight that mediators should not be attacked under international law. He said the gathering also represents a rejection of “the law of the jungle” in the region.

“The summit will review the fallout and steps needed to stop the region sliding into further conflict and violence,” Rushdy told Asharq Al Awsat.

Several local and regional media reports have suggested that a new Arab and Islamic cooperation framework might be on the agenda.

The summit also comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to threaten various Arab and Middle Eastern capitals with more strikes, saying the attack on Doha may only be the beginning of a wider campaign targeting Hamas leaders abroad.

It also comes two days after the UN Security Council on Thursday condemned the strikes on Qatar and called for de-escalation, but failed to name Israel as the cuplrit in the agression.

In a statement, the UNSC “underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar, in line with the principles of the UN Charter,” read the statement, which required the agreement of all 15 council members, including the US, Israel’s top ally in the UNSC.

Meanwhile. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the alliance with the United States has never been stronger as he joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio in praying at one of Judaism’s holiest sites.

Rubio, and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee donned kippas on their heads with Netanyahu as they reached out in silent prayer to touch the Al Buraq Wall (Western Wall).

“I think his visit here is a testament to the durability, the strength, of the Israel-American alliance,” Netanyahu told reporters.