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Arab-Islamic Summit to Back Qatar After Israeli Attack
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, attends the preparatory ministerial meeting for emergency Arab-Islamic summit in Doha, Qatar September 14, 2025. Photo: Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
An Arab-Islamic leaders summit in Doha on Monday is expected to rally support for Qatar in the wake of last week’s Israeli attack targeting the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the Gulf state.
A draft of the resolution that will be considered by heads of state condemned Israel’s attack as a destabilize escalation and said the states opposed Israel’s “plans to impose a new reality in the region.”
The draft, which was seen by Reuters, did not mention any diplomatic or economic moves against Israel. The resolution may change before the leaders meet in Doha on Monday.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said in a televised address on Sunday that Israel’s actions would not stop Doha’s mediation efforts with Egypt and the US to end the war in Gaza.
The September 9 attack, which Hamas says killed five of its members but not its leadership, has prompted US-allied Gulf Arab states to close ranks, adding to strains in ties between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, which normalized relations in 2020.
The emergency summit, bringing together members of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, began with a meeting of foreign ministers on Sunday to craft the draft resolution.
The gathering is a message that “Qatar is not alone … and that Arab and Islamic states stand by it,” Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
NETANYAHU KEEPS UP PRESSURE
Hitting back at global condemnation of the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has kept up pressure on Qatar over the presence of Hamas leaders on its soil, warning Doha on Wednesday to either expel Hamas officials or “bring them to justice, because if you don’t, we will.”
Qatar, a key mediator in efforts aimed at ending the nearly two-year Gaza war, has accused Israel of sabotaging chances for peace and Netanyahu of practicing “state terrorism.” A member of Qatar’s internal security forces was among those killed.
US President Donald Trump has signaled unhappiness over the Israeli attack, saying it did not advance Israeli or US goals, calling Qatar a close ally working hard to broker peace.
He also said eliminating Hamas was “a worthy goal.” After the attack, he told Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani that “such a thing will not happen again on their soil.”
Netanyahu said on Saturday that getting rid of Hamas leaders living in Qatar would remove the main obstacle to releasing hostages still held by the group in Gaza and ending the war that began with the militant group’s October 7, 2023 attacks.
The UAE, a US ally and the most prominent Arab state to normalize ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords, on Friday summoned the deputy Israeli ambassador over the attack and subsequent remarks by Netanyahu which it described as hostile.
The UAE has described Qatar’s stability as an “inseparable part of the security and stability of the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council,” which includes Saudi Arabia.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.