ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Fifty-seven Arab League and Muslim-majority member-states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened an emergency summit in Doha on Monday, firmly condemning last week’s Israeli strikes in the Qatari capital as a direct assault on Doha’s efforts to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners.

In a joint closing statement, the heads of state expressed their "absolute and unwavering solidarity" with Qatar, describing the Israeli military action in the peninsula state as an attack against all Arab and Islamic nations.

"We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the sovereignty, independence, and security of all [Arab League and OIC] member-states … and recall our collective duty to respond to this aggression in defense of our common security,” the statement said.

Chaired by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the extraordinary summit convened per Doha’s request in response to Tuesday’s Israeli air strikes on a residential area in the Qatari capital.

The strikes reportedly targeted Hamas officials during a meeting to discuss a ceasefire proposal by US President Donald Trump. While the Palestinian group’s leadership survived the attack, six others, including a Qatari security officer, were killed.

Doha denounced the Israeli operation as “state terrorism,” vowing to respond to the strikes, which it said “must not be overlooked.”

The US notably distanced itself from the Israeli strikes, with President Trump stating that the assassination attempt was not his decision, adding that it “does not advance Israel or America’s goals.”

The conferees on Monday further labelled the Israeli “aggression” on Qatar, which is “acting as a key mediator” to “end the war in Gaza and release the hostages and prisoners,” as a “dangerous escalation and an assault on diplomatic efforts to restore peace."

At Monday's summit, participating states strongly condemned the Israeli “aggression” against Qatar, describing it as a “dangerous escalation and an assault on diplomatic efforts to restore peace,” given Doha’s role as mediator in efforts to end the war in Gaza and facilitate the release of hostages and prisoners.

The summit also welcomed the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) adoption of the New York Declaration on Friday, which establishes a roadmap for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Co-sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia, the resolution calls for the immediate establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The declaration further calls for a lasting peace through the end of the “Israeli occupation of all Arab territories” and the establishment of a nuclear-free Middle East.

The Doha summit participants reaffirmed these demands and reiterated their support for the "historic Hashemite Custodianship of the Islamic and Christian holy sites in [Jerusalem] al-Quds." Amman’s custodianship was formally recognized by the 1994 Jordan-Israel peace treaty and a 2013 agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

Additionally, the conferees on Monday accused Tel Aviv of triggering “an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” in the Gaza Strip, where “blockade, starvation, and the deprivation of civilians of food and medicine are being used as weapons of war.”

The summit called for an immediate, safe and unrestricted delivery of aid and announced plans for a Gaza reconstruction conference to be hosted in the Egyptian capital Cairo, following a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

The current Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise incursion into southern Israel killing around 1,200 people and taking approximately 251 hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli figures.

Although a ceasefire was reached in mid-January, Israel resumed its military operations in late March, citing the objective of rescuing the remaining 48 hostages believed to still be held in Gaza.

As of Monday, the Gaza health ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli military operations in has exceeded 64,900.