UAE says summons Israel envoy to condemn 'cowardly' Qatar attack

Agence France-Presse·12 September 2025, 7:45 pm·1 min read

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UAE says summons Israel envoy to condemn 'cowardly' Qatar attack — This handout picture made available by the Qatar Amiri Diwan, shows Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani attending the funeral of people killed in an Israeli strike on figures of the Palestinain Hamas movement two days earlier, at the Mesaimeer cemetery in Doha on 11 September 2025. On 9 September, Israel struck Doha targeting Hamas leaders, but the group said its top officials survived, while five of its members were left dead and a Qatari security force member was also killed. In an interview with CNN the following day, Qatar's Prime Minister said he hoped for a collective regional response to the attack and that an Arab-Islamic summit would be held in Doha to decide on a course of action.
Qatar Amiri Diwan / AFP

The United Arab Emirates said it summoned Israel's deputy ambassador in Abu Dhabi on Friday, in a formal rebuke of his country's attack targeting Hamas leaders in Gulf neighbor Qatar.

The UAE, along with Bahrain, was the first Gulf country to normalize ties with Israel in 2020 and has been a frequent critic of its military actions in Gaza. It issued sharp condemnations of Tuesday's deadly strike on Qatar.

"Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, summoned the Israeli Deputy Head of Mission in the United Arab Emirates, David Ohad Horsandi," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

She used the meeting to "strongly condemn and denounce the blatant and cowardly Israeli attack that targeted the State of Qatar, as well as the hostile statements made by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu," the statement said.

"Any aggression against a GCC member state constitutes an attack on the collective Gulf security framework," she added.