DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar’s prime minister denounced Israel on Sunday as foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim nations met to discuss a possible unified response to Israel’s attack on Doha targeting the leadership of the militant group Hamas.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as Qatar’s foreign minister, made the comments before a meeting Monday of leaders from those nations.
Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar remained committed to working with Egypt and the United States to reach a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war that has devastated the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ attack on Israel nearly two years ago. However, he said that the Israeli strike that killed six people — five members of Hamas and a local Qatari security force member — represented “an attack on the principle of mediation itself.”
“This attack can only be described as state terrorism, an approach pursued by the current extremist Israeli government, which flouts international law,” the minister said. “The reckless and treacherous Israeli aggression was committed while the state of Qatar was hosting official and public negotiations, with the knowledge of the Israeli side itself, and with the aim of achieving a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Sheikh Mohammed stressed the moment had come for consequences to Israel’s attacks in the wider Middle East.
“It is time for the international community to stop applying double standards and punish Israel for a …