The United Arab Emirates announced the summoning of Israel’s deputy envoy on Friday, formally rebuking his nation’s extraordinary assault on Hamas leaders in the Gulf neighbor Qatar.
The UAE, together with Bahrain, was the inaugural Gulf nation to establish normalized relations with Israel in 2020 and has consistently criticized its conduct since the onset of the Gaza conflict.
It expressed vehement denunciations of Tuesday’s lethal assault on Qatar.
Friday’s unusual summoning was the most forceful expression in a series of denunciations as outrage intensifies throughout the Gulf at Israel’s assault on an area historically insulated from Middle Eastern hostilities.
The foreign ministry stated that Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, called David Ohad Horsandi, the Israeli Deputy Head of Mission in the United Arab Emirates.
The meeting was utilized to “strongly condemn and denounce the overt and cowardly Israeli assault on the State of Qatar, along with the antagonistic remarks made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” the statement indicated.
“Any aggression towards a GCC member state is deemed an assault on the collective security framework of the Gulf,” she stated, referencing the Gulf Cooperation Council regional organization.
In response to inquiries over the summoning, a representative from the Israeli embassy informed AFP that “Israel executed a targeted strike against high-ranking Hamas officials who have utilized Qatar as a base to conduct hostilities against Israel.”
Unverified media sources indicate that Israel’s current ambassador to the UAE, Yossi Shelley, was recalled due to exhibiting “undignified” conduct at a local bar some months prior and for consistently neglecting security measures.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has not verified the reports.
The reprimand occurs during a diplomatic upheaval over the assault, with an urgent Arab-Islamic summit scheduled in Doha on Sunday and Monday to deliberate a regional response to the incident.
On Friday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
On Tuesday, Israel announced it had targeted Hamas leaders in Doha; however, the group claimed its senior officials had survived.
Six individuals were killed in the assault: five Hamas affiliates, none of whom were senior officials, along with a Qatari security force member in his twenties.
The Gulf monarchies, notably Qatar and the UAE, are significant friends of the United States.
The White House stated that US President Donald Trump disagreed with Israel’s choice to undertake military action.
He stated that he was not informed beforehand, and upon learning of the situation, he instructed his envoy, Steve Witkoff, to alert Qatar immediately; however, the onslaught had already commenced.
