DOHA– Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday urged Arab and Islamic leaders to establish a joint task force aimed at countering Israeli aggression and expansionist ambitions, as an emergency summit in Doha debated a draft resolution responding to Israel’s strike on Hamas negotiators in Qatar.The high-level gathering, held under the umbrella of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), brought together leaders and representatives from around 50 states, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
PM Shehbaz warned that Israel’s actions threatened to destabilise the entire Middle East, describing the attack on Doha as a targeted strike by an “aggressor who violates international law seriously”. He called it a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty of Qatar” and expressed solidarity with the Gulf state.
In his speech, the prime minister said Israel’s attack was a deliberate attempt to derail peace efforts in the Middle East. “The Israeli attack on Qatar is not apart from the other attacks, it is hegemonic ambition on part of Israel to control the whole region,” he declared. He insisted that the role of mediators must be respected as “sacred” since they were “the hope of peace”.