UAE summons Israeli diplomat over attack on Qatar

The United Arab Emirates on Friday summoned Israel's deputy ambassador, David Ahad Horsandi, to protest this week's "cowardly and reckless" Israeli attack on Qatar, state news agency WAM reported.

Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashimy, the state minister for international cooperation, conveyed Abu Dhabi's "strong condemnation and denunciation" of the assault and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "aggressive statements," stressing that Qatar's security is integral to that of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Earlier, Israeli broadcaster KAN reported that Israel's ambassador to the UAE was summoned for a reprimand following the Israeli attack on Hamas officials in Qatar earlier this week.

Israeli warplanes on Tuesday launched an airstrike targeting Hamas' leadership in the Qatari capital, killing five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu addressed Doha, saying: "You either expel them (Hamas) or you bring them to justice. Because if you don't, we will."

Netanyahu compared the Israeli assault on Doha to the US pursuit of Al-Qaeda following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Qatar swiftly rejected the comparison, branding it a "new, miserable justification for Israel's treacherous practices" and a reckless violation of its sovereignty.

Qatar, along with the US and Egypt, has been playing a central role in efforts to mediate an end to Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed more than 64,700 Palestinians since October 2023.