UN Human Rights Council to debate Israel's recent military aggression against Qatar
The meeting, set to take place in Geneva, will be the 10th urgent debate convened by the Council since its establishment in 2006.
The United Nations Human Rights Council will tomorrow (Tuesday) hold an urgent debate to "discuss the recent military aggression carried out by the State of Israel against the State of Qatar last week."
In a statement on Monday, the Council said the debate follows two formal requests—one submitted by Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and another by Kuwait on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
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"The programme of work of the ongoing 60th regular session of the Human Rights Council will be adjusted to include this urgent debate. This urgent debate does not require signatories or formal notifications, as is the case for special sessions," the statement said.
The meeting, set to take place in Geneva, will be the 10th urgent debate convened by the Council since its establishment in 2006.
Meanwhile, an emergency summit of Arab and Islamic states opened today in Qatar to respond to the attack and is expected to issue a resolution outlining specific measures against Israel.
UN General Assembly resolution
"The ongoing state terrorism against the people of the region demands us to draft a resolution for the UN General Assembly to put an end to these practices as well as the violations and crimes against the Palestinian people, and push forward for the two-state solution," OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha said on Sunday.
On September 9, Israel launched an unprecedented strike on Hamas leadership in Doha, the Qatari capital, where mediation efforts for Gaza ceasefire talks had been underway before being disrupted.
Authorities confirmed that the attack killed five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer, jeopardising hostage release negotiations. Hamas, however, said none of its negotiating team was among the dead.
'State terrorism'
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman condemned the strike as "state terrorism" and demanded accountability for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"It's time for the international community to abandon dual standards and to hold Israel accountable for all the crimes it has committed," Sheikh Mohammed said during a meeting at the Ritz-Carlton hotel.
He stressed that the assault must be met with decisive action.
"Israel must know that the continuous genocidal war against the Palestinian people, aiming at forcibly transferring them outside their homeland, cannot succeed, no matter what false justification is provided."
Netanyahu has defended the strike, calling it "fully justified" because it targeted Hamas leaders accused of orchestrating the October 7, 2023 attack.
The United States, a close ally of Qatar—which is a major non-NATO ally and hosts one of America’s largest overseas military bases—has expressed its disapproval of the incident.
"I'm not thrilled about the whole situation. It's not a good situation," President Donald Trump said, adding that Washington is expected to issue further remarks this week.
The UN Security Council also condemned the attack. Its 15 members expressed solidarity with Qatar and stressed the urgency of de-escalating the conflict.
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