GCC unites after Israeli strike on Qatar, approving new joint defence measures, intelligence sharing, missile early warning, and upcoming air drills to safeguard Gulf stability and sovereignty.
The Gulf Cooperation Council’s Joint Defence Council has approved a series of urgent military and intelligence measures to strengthen collective defence, in the wake of Israel’s military strike on Qatar.
The extraordinary meeting, held in Doha under the chairmanship of Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan Al-Thani, Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, gathered defence ministers from across the GCC to discuss the implications of the attack, which they unanimously condemned as a grave escalation.
Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary-General of the GCC, said the attack on Qatar represented an attack on all GCC countries. He emphasised that the Council stood firmly with Qatar in all measures necessary to defend its security, unity, and territorial integrity. He warned that the assault threatened not only Qatar but also the wider stability of the region, undermining mediation efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire and facilitate the release of hostages.
Albudaiwi confirmed that the Council had signed off on a package of concrete defence steps. These include enhanced intelligence sharing through the Unified Military Command, the pooling of aerial situational awareness across all GCC operations centres, and the acceleration of the GCC joint task force’s early warning system against ballistic missiles. Defence plans will also be updated through coordination between the Unified Military Command and the GCC’s Operations and Training Committee.
To translate these measures into action, a series of joint exercises between air operations and air defence centres will take place over the next three months, culminating in a live joint air drill.
The Secretary-General further noted that defence ministers had agreed to deepen coordination at military and intelligence levels to reinforce Gulf defence integration. This will include intensifying the linkage of defence systems to counter risks and potential attacks that could endanger regional security.
The extraordinary session followed the directives of GCC leaders, issued earlier in the week at an emergency Supreme Council meeting in Doha. Leaders had called for a full assessment of the Gulf’s defence posture and mandated the Unified Military Command to implement immediate executive measures to bolster deterrence capabilities.
In its final statement, the Council reiterated its condemnation of the Israeli strike, which it labelled a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter. It underscored that the security of GCC states was indivisible, as set out in the Joint Defence Agreement, and pledged to confront threats collectively to safeguard sovereignty, security, and stability across the Gulf.
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Qatar, ICC in talks
Qatar has stepped up its efforts to hold Israel legally accountable for last week’s unprecedented military strike on its soil, meeting with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague as part of a broader diplomatic and legal push.
Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, Qatar’s chief negotiator, met ICC president Judge Tomoko Akane on Wednesday to discuss possible avenues for accountability. The meeting, confirmed by a Qatari official speaking to AFP on Thursday, underscores Doha’s determination to pursue “every available legal and diplomatic avenue to ensure accountability for those responsible for Israel’s attack on Qatar.”
The strike, which targeted Qatar-based leaders of Hamas, killed five members of the group along with an officer of Qatar’s internal security force. Although Hamas later confirmed its top political bureau leaders, who have been hosted in Qatar since 2012 with US approval, had survived, the attack has rattled the Gulf and raised new security questions across the region.
“This attack was unlawful and constitutes grave violations of international humanitarian law,” the Qatari official said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of ongoing talks.
Qatar faces a challenge in pursuing the case directly, as its status as an ICC observer state prevents it from referring matters to the court. Nevertheless, the emirate is seeking alternative pathways to bring international scrutiny to the strike.
Al-Khulaifi described his visit to the ICC as part of “the work of the team tasked with exploring legal avenues to respond to the illegal Israeli armed attack against the State of Qatar.” He also emphasised Doha’s resolve to explore both legal recourse and diplomatic initiatives to ensure accountability.
