Israel should be suspended from UN: Pakistan

Pakistan on Sunday tabled a sweeping set of proposals at the preparatory ministerial meeting of the emergency Arab-Islamic Summit in Doha, calling for Israel’s accountability, suspension of its UN membership and the formation of an Arab-Islamic task force to counter what it described as Tel Aviv’s “rogue mindset.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar outlined a seven-point response to the Israeli air strikes on Qatar, urging Muslim states to unite behind concrete measures.

The proposals included: holding Israel accountable for war crimes; creation of a joint Arab-Islamic task force to deter further aggression; pursuing suspension of Israel’s UN membership; implementing punitive measures by member states; demanding through the UN Security Council an immediate and permanent ceasefire along with prisoner exchanges; ensuring unfettered humanitarian access in Gaza; and reviving a genuine political process for a two-state solution.

Meanwhile Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said on Sunday that Israel’s “practices” will not stop Doha’s mediation efforts with Egypt and the United States to end the war in Gaza, urging the international community to “stop using double standards” and punish Israel for its “crimes”.

He expressed these views on the eve of an emergency summit of Arab and Islamic leaders organised by Qatar after Israel carried out an unprecedented air strike on Hamas peace negotiators in Doha.

“The time has come for the international community to stop using double standards and to punish Israel for all the crimes it has committed, and Israel needs to know that the ongoing war of extermination that our brotherly Palestinian people is being subjected to, and whose aim is to expel them from their land, will not work,” the prime minister said.

According to Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, Monday’s meeting of Arab and Islamic leaders will consider “a draft resolution on the Israeli attack on the State of Qatar”.

The Arab-Islamic summit — held under the umbrella of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation — is expected to draw heads of state and governments, along with senior officials, from across the Muslim world. PM Shehbaz Sharif is also set to attend the high-level moot, while Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar actively participated in a meeting of foreign ministers on Sunday to craft the draft resolution in Doha.

The summit, cosponsored by Pakistan, has been convened in the wake of Israel’s strikes on Doha and the escalating developments in Palestine — following Israeli attempts to occupy Gaza, expand settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and forcibly displace the Palestinians, according to the Foreign Office of Pakistan.

Diplomats said more than 50 OIC member states are expected to attend the Doha summit, where leaders may also weigh in on pushing Palestinian statehood at the upcoming UN General Assembly session in New York.

Among the leaders attending will be Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also expected to attend, Turkish media reported.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas arrived in Doha on Sunday, on the eve of the summit.

It remained to be seen whether Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, would attend, though he visited Qatar earlier this week in a show of neighbourly solidarity.

Monday’s summit in Doha is expected to rally support for Qatar in the wake of last week’s Israeli attack targeting Hamas in the Gulf state.

A draft of the resolution that will be considered by heads of state condemned Israel’s attack as a destabilising escalation and said the states opposed Israel’s “plans to impose a new reality in the region”.

However, the draft, which was seen by Reuters, did not mention any diplomatic or economic moves against Israel. The resolution may change before the leaders meet in Doha on Monday.

The attack has prompted US-allied Gulf Arab states to close ranks, adding to strains in ties between the UAE and Israel, which normalised relations in 2020.

The gathering is a message that “Qatar is not alone … and that Arab and Islamic states stand by it,” Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.