Islamabad/Doha, September 15, 2025: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Doha on Monday to attend an emergency Arab-Islamic summit convened in response to Israel’s airstrikes on Qatar last week, calling the gathering a reflection of Muslim unity and collective commitment to peace.
The summit comes after the September 9 Israeli strike targeting Hamas leaders residing in Qatar. While Hamas confirmed the deaths of five members, it said its leadership was unharmed. The attack triggered strong reactions across the region, prompting Gulf Arab states—including US allies—to rally behind Doha, further straining ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations in 2020.
According to a draft resolution obtained by Reuters, Arab and Islamic leaders will warn that Israeli “hostile acts,” including the strike on Qatar, jeopardize coexistence and undermine normalization efforts in the Middle East.
Pakistan, which earlier “strongly condemned Israeli aggression against Qatar and other regional states,” has already expressed solidarity with Doha. On September 11, PM Sharif made a special visit to Qatar to reaffirm Pakistan’s support for the Gulf state’s sovereignty and security, vowing Islamabad’s continued backing for peace and stability in the region.
“The participation of the Prime Minister of Pakistan and other Muslim leaders in the emergency summit in Doha on September 15 is a manifestation of the Muslim Ummah’s strong unity and its unwavering resolve to establish regional peace,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
The pre-summit draft resolution described Israel’s actions as “brutal,” citing genocide, ethnic cleansing, starvation, siege, and colonizing expansion policies that threaten both peace prospects and existing agreements with Israel. It warned that these actions could derail not only current normalization pacts but also future ones.
Israel’s nearly two-year military campaign in Gaza has already killed more than 64,000 people, according to local authorities, drawing genocide accusations from international experts, including the world’s largest association of genocide scholars.
Despite global condemnation of the strike on Doha, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained pressure on Qatar, warning it to expel Hamas leaders or “bring them to justice” or face further action. On Saturday, Netanyahu argued that removing Hamas figures based in Qatar would clear the way for the release of hostages held in Gaza and pave the path to ending the war.
Qatar, however, has pushed back, accusing Israel of “state terrorism” and of sabotaging mediation efforts. A member of Qatar’s internal security forces was among those killed in the strike.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on Sunday that Israel’s actions would not deter Doha from continuing mediation efforts alongside Egypt and the United States to secure a breakthrough in the Gaza conflict.
