Arab-Islamic Summit Slams 'Bloodthirsty' Israel, Mulls NATO-Like Alliance, Economic Countermeasures

Various heads of state convened on Monday at an emergency summit of the 'Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation' in Doha, Qatar after Israel's strikes on the region.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, while speaking at the summit, called the attack "blatant", "cowardly" and "treacherous". The Israeli action violated international law and the sovereignty of the state, he said.

Notably, Israel conducted airstrikes targeting Hamas leadership in Doha on Tuesday, leaving six persons dead. The strikes targeted the government's residential quarters. One of Qatar's Interior Ministry members was among the slain.

Khalil al-Hayya, a representative of the Palestinian legislative council along with his son Humam and the director of his officer Jihad Labad, were also killed, according to a statement from Hamas.

The targeted persons were engaging in negotiations for a ceasefire to the Gaza war and a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Palestine, according to reports.

The Qatari Emir stated that Netanyahu wishes to make the Arab region an Israeli sphere of influence and called it a "dangerous illusion", Al-Jazeera reported.

"The negotiations between Israel and Hamas were about to reach an achievement with the help of the sisterly country of Egypt and the United States of America. This has resulted in the liberation of many hostages," Al Thani said.

"If Israel wishes to assassinate the Hamas leaders, why then engage in negotiations?" he added.

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani proposed an alliance of Arab countries similar to that of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, where an attack on one member would be counted as an attack on all of them.

Iraq's al-Sudani proposed "a joint Arab-Islamic committee to convey our position to the UN Security Council and General Assembly, the European Union and other international fora”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for self sufficiency of the Arab region and condemned the attacks, saying that there is a "greedy, bloodthirsty mentality" among Israeli officials.

He also advocated for joint economic pressure on Israel from the countries, saying that past actions of a similar nature have proved successful.

"We call upon the international community to live up to its responsibility, to hold Israel liable and responsible for their crimes and the repeated assault on our countries and peoples, and in this direction, we call for practical measures to prevent any recurrence of these violations," Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said.