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Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jassim al-Budaiwi, OIC Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Youssef Al-Dobeay, and Arab League Deputy Secretary-General Hossam Zaki attend a press conference after the emergency Arab-Islamic summit to discuss the Israeli attack on Qatar in Doha, Qatar, on September 15, 2025. [Photo by Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images]
Defense ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) announced a package of steps on Thursday to strengthen collective security after Israel’s Sept. 9 airstrike on Qatar, Anadolu reports.
In a joint statement, the Gulf Joint Defense Council said members agreed to step up intelligence sharing through the Unified Military Command, provide a common air operations picture across the Gulf, and accelerate work on a joint ballistic missile early warning system.
The ministers, meeting in Doha, also endorsed updating joint defense plans, holding coordination drills between operations and air defense centers within three months, and conducting a large-scale aerial exercise.
They pledged to link national defense systems more closely to counter “any potential threats or acts of aggression.”
Chaired by Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah, the emergency session brought together senior officials from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
The council condemned “in the strongest terms this dangerous military attack,” calling Israel’s strike on Doha a “serious escalation” and a “gross violation of international law and the UN Charter.”
The attack on Qatar, it stressed, “was an attack on all GCC states.” The ministers vowed support for any measures Doha takes to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, while warning that the strike also undermined Qatar’s mediation efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza.
The statement followed a separate meeting of Gulf military chiefs in Doha on Wednesday, which focused on bolstering deterrence and reviewing regional threats.
The Sept. 9 Israeli airstrike on Doha killed five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer, drawing sharp condemnation from Qatar, which vowed accountability and stressed its right to defend its sovereignty.
The attack came even as Doha, together with Egypt and the US, was mediating indirect talks between Hamas and Israel for a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Vote Labour for Genocide.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Pose for a group photo following the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Foreign Ministers meeting with Japan’s Foreign Minister in Kuwait City on September 1, 2025. [Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images]
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) called Monday for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages and detainees, and unrestricted humanitarian access to the enclave, Anadolu reports.
In a final communiqué following a ministerial session in Kuwait, the bloc pressed for full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2735, adopted in June 2024, and praised mediation efforts led by Qatar, Egypt and the US.
The ministers condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, citing mass killings, forced displacement, starvation policies and the destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, mosques and churches. They urged the international community to take urgent steps to halt these crimes and hold perpetrators accountable.
The GCC rejected any Israeli attempt to annex parts of Gaza or impose direct military rule, stressing that Gaza and the West Bank must remain united under the Palestinian Authority.
The council also condemned repeated Israeli attacks on humanitarian convoys and aid workers, recalling UN Security Council Resolution 2730 on protecting humanitarian staff.
It welcomed statements by the European Union and a coalition of 26 international partners in July calling for an immediate end to the war and unrestricted delivery of aid.
On the Palestinian issue, the GCC reaffirmed its commitment to a two-state solution, calling for an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, in line with the Arab Peace Initiative and international law.
It praised an international conference held at the UN last month, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, which underscored support for setting a timeline to establish Palestinian statehood and ensure regional stability.
The ministers also welcomed the planned recognition of Palestine by France, the UK, Portugal, Malta, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, urging all other states to follow suit.
The GCC condemned Israel’s plan to transfer control of Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque to a Jewish religious council, settlement expansion in the West Bank, and calls by Israeli lawmakers to annex the occupied territory.
Israel has killed over 63,500 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.Vote Labour for Genocide.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit pose for a group photo after issuing a joint statement condemning Israel’s decision to block their planned diplomatic visit to Ramallah, at a meeting held in Amman, Jordan on June 1, 2025. [Jordan Foreign Ministry – Anadolu Agency]
Arab states on Friday condemned Israel for the famine officially declared in the Gaza Strip, with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Muslim World League and Palestine accusing Tel Aviv of committing grave crimes against starving civilians and demanding urgent international intervention, Anadolu reports.
In a statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry accused Israel of committing genocide against civilians in Gaza, describing the famine as a “stain on the conscience of humanity.”
The ministry said the famine, confirmed by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), is a direct result of systematic crimes committed by the Israeli army, including the obstruction of humanitarian aid and forced displacement of civilians under siege.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its deep concern following the IPC report and the official declaration of famine in Gaza,” the ministry said.
“The continuation of these crimes without deterrence or accountability represents a disgrace to the international community.”
Riyadh condemned what it called “repeated genocide crimes” by Israeli forces and called on the international community, particularly permanent members of the UN Security Council, to take urgent steps to end the famine and stop Israel’s extermination war against the Palestinian people.
Kuwait also denounced Israel’s policy of starvation, repression, and forced displacement in Gaza.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry called on the international community to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza and hold Israel accountable for crimes against humanity, citing UN Security Council Resolution 2417, which prohibits the use of starvation as a weapon of war.
The GCC likewise urged immediate international pressure on Israel to open crossings and allow unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza.
GCC Secretary-General Jasem al-Budaiwi called the famine a result of Israel’s “inhumane starvation policies” and reaffirmed support for Palestinian rights and protection under international law.
Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Sufyan Qudah called the declaration “a dangerous indicator of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, resulting from the systematic inhumane policies and measures by the Israeli government that have turned starvation into a weapon against the Palestinians.”
He condemned Israel’s continued restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which he said have led to “alarming levels of famine.”
Qudah called on the international community to “act immediately and without delay to compel Israel to end its aggression on Gaza, put an end to the famine and humanitarian catastrophe caused by the aggression, and ensure the sufficient and sustainable entry of aid into the Strip.”
A statement by the Muslim World League (MWL) General Secretariat, Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, and chairman of the Organization of Muslim Scholars, stressed that “this extremist government poses a grave threat to the Palestinian people in particular, as well as to the region and the international community at large.”
His renewed the MWL’s “urgent appeal to the international community to assume its moral and legal responsibilities, to take an immediate and decisive stand to end the famine and genocide inflicted upon the people of Gaza, and to deter the occupation government’s war machine, which continues its tyranny and disregard for the lives, rights, and human dignity of the Palestinian people.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called for “decisive international action to compel the occupying state, Israel, to immediately halt the crimes of genocide, displacement, and annexation, as the only way to stop, contain, and address famine, prevent its spread, ensure the opening of crossings, allow sustainable delivery of humanitarian aid, and begin the immediate reconstruction of Gaza.”
It “urged relevant international courts to assume their legal and moral responsibilities regarding the perpetrators of famine, including upholding international law in addressing all acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people witnessed by the world.”
The ministry also affirmed that the IPC report “has left no room for interpretation and speculation regarding the occurrence of famine in Gaza.”
Hamas said the UN report on the spread of famine in Gaza governorate represents “conclusive international testimony to the crime being committed by Israel.”
The group said the announcement “constitutes undeniable international evidence of the crime perpetrated by the Zionist occupation against more than two million besieged people.”
It called for the UN and the Security Council to “act immediately to stop the war, lift the blockade, and open the crossings without restrictions to allow the urgent and continuous entry of food, medicine, water and fuel.”
The IPC’s latest report, released Friday, confirmed that famine conditions are already present in Gaza, affecting over 500,000 people. The crisis, described by UN agencies as entirely man-made, is projected to spread further south in the coming weeks, unless a large-scale humanitarian response is urgently allowed.
UN officials and humanitarian agencies have blamed Israel’s blockade, destruction of civilian infrastructure, repeated displacement, and severe restrictions on aid deliveries as the main drivers of the famine.
Israel has killed nearly 62,300 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Labour Party government Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are participants and complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide providing Israel with army and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.Vote Labour for Genocide.
