Doha: The Joint Defense Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) condemned, in the strongest terms, the serious Israeli military attack on the State of Qatar, affirming that this aggressive act constitutes a dangerous and unacceptable escalation and a grave violation of the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter.
According to Qatar News Agency, this condemnation was voiced during the Council’s meeting held Thursday in Doha. The meeting was chaired by HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs and President of the Joint Defense Council in its extraordinary session, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan Al-Thani, with the participation of Their Highnesses and Excellencies the Ministers of Defense of the GCC countries.
In this context, HE Secretary-General of the GCC, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, affirmed that the attack on the State of Qatar is an attack on all GCC countries. He reiterated the Council’s support for Qatar in all measures it takes to confront this aggression, preserve its security, and defend its unity and territorial integrity.
In the final statement of the extraordinary session, His Excellency stated that this attack poses a direct threat to the security and stability of the entire region. It undermines Qatar’s diplomatic and mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and secure the release of hostages and detainees. He stressed that the security of GCC countries is indivisible, as stipulated in the Joint Defense Agreement.
Albudaiwi added that the Joint Defense Council has approved a set of measures, which include increasing intelligence information exchange through the Unified Military Command, sharing aerial situational awareness across all operations centers in GCC countries, accelerating the work of the GCC joint task force for the early warning system against ballistic missiles, updating joint defense plans in coordination between the Unified Military Command and the Operations and Training Committee of the GCC, and conducting joint exercises between air operations and air defense centers over the next three months, followed by a joint live air drill.
He noted that Their Highnesses and Excellencies the Ministers of Defense of the GCC countries agreed to continue coordination and consultation at all military and intelligence levels. This aims to further enhance Gulf defense integration and intensify and link defense systems to confront all risks and challenges, ensuring the security, stability, and safety of all GCC countries and countering any potential threats or attacks that may endanger regional stability.
This meeting was held in implementation of the directives of Their Majesties and Highnesses, the leaders of the GCC countries, during the extraordinary session of the Supreme Council held in Doha last Monday. The session aimed to assess the defense situation of the GCC countries and sources of threat in light of the Israeli aggression against the State of Qatar and to instruct the Unified Military Command to take the necessary executive measures to activate joint defense mechanisms and Gulf deterrence capabilities.