The proposal, under discussion at an emergency Arab-Islamic summit that opened in Doha on Sunday, marks the most serious push towards regional military integration in decades, South China Morning Post wrote in a report.
Diplomatic sources and Arab media reported that the summit was poised to endorse the creation of a joint military coalition on Monday.
Egypt, which commands the Arab world’s largest army, is pressing for a Cairo-based “Arab Nato”, while Pakistan – nuclear-armed state – has called for a joint task force to “monitor the Israeli designs in the region and adopt effective deterrent and offensive measures in a synchronised manner to ward off Israeli expansionist designs”.
“Israel must be held accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, declared at the summit’s opening session.
“It should not be allowed to get away with attacking Islamic countries and killing people with impunity.”
‘Endless cycle of bloodshed’
The summit builds upon a joint Egyptian-Saudi framework approved by the Arab League just days before the attack on Qatar, according to diplomatic sources.
On September 5, the 22-member body backed a plan for joint cooperation to combat terrorism, secure shipping lanes and shield strategic infrastructure “thereby strengthening the region’s stability”.
That plan is now being fast-tracked following Israel’s air strike on a residential compound in Doha where officials confirmed Hamas mediators were being housed.
“What occurred was not merely a targeted attack, but an assault on the principle of mediation itself and on everything diplomacy represents as an alternative to war and destruction,” said Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the opening of the summit on Sunday.
In remarks laced with frustration, Thani condemned the “international community” – in effect, the West – for its “inability” to hold Israel accountable. Instead of welcoming Qatar’s negotiations over a ceasefire and the release of hostages, he said, Israel had chosen escalation.
Thani urged Muslim countries to take “real and tangible measures” to curb further violence or “inevitably, we will find ourselves facing an endless cycle of bloodshed and destruction from which no one will be immune”.
The strikes cast a fresh spotlight on rising doubts about Washington’s reliability as a security guarantor. Officials have insisted Qatar’s security relationship with the United States is still intact despite Washington’s failure to intercept the missiles that struck Doha.
MNA
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