Pakistan PM backs Qatar’s regional response, calls for Muslim unity against ‘Israeli provocations’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday met Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha, stressing Muslim unity as Qatar called for a collective regional response to an Israeli strike on its capital.
Sharif’s day-long trip came two days after Israeli warplanes bombed a residential building in the Qatari capital on Sept. 9, killing at least six people including a Qatari security guard. Israel said the raid targeted Hamas officials, but Qatar denounced it as a “criminal attack” and “flagrant violation” of international law.
Speaking to CNN on Wednesday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Israel had carried out “state terrorism” and “killed any hope” for hostage negotiations in Gaza. Qatar has been hosting Hamas’s political bureau and working with the United States and Egypt to mediate ceasefire and prisoner-exchange talks since the war erupted last October. Al Thani said Doha was now reassessing its role and consulting with regional partners on a collective response, with an upcoming Arab-Islamic summit in Doha expected to decide next steps.
