According to the German news agency, Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi called Israel an ¡°enemy¡± for the first time when he attended an emergency summit of Arab-Islamic countries in Doha.This is the first time since Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel 46 years ago that Egyptian heads of state have used the term to refer to Israel.

Image of Egyptian President Abdullah-Fattah Sisi (image/foreign media)

In a speech on September 15, he called for unity between Arab and Islamic countries, saying: "Our position must change the enemy's view of us and let them understand that any Arab country extends from the ocean to the Gulf region."

According to the report, the director of the Egyptian news agency, Diau Rashvan, emphasized, It was the first time since Egyptian President Sadat¡¯s 1977 visit to Jerusalem that Egyptian heads of state used the word ¡°enemy¡± to describe Israel.In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel.

Later on the 15th, in an interview with Egypt¡¯s Extra News television station, Rashvan stressed, ¡°Friends will not threaten your national security.¡± he said the Egyptian side saw forcing Palestinians to leave Gaza as a ¡°red line.¡±

According to the report, the Arab-Islamic State Emergency Summit issued a communiqué condemning the Israeli attack on Qatar, which targeted the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), killing at least six people, including a Qatari security official, and wounding 18 others.

During the Israeli conflict, Egypt and Qatar played the role of mediators.

Source: Global Times

Extended reading

Israel attacks six countries for 72 hours, Arab countries build anti-Israel ¡°United Front¡±

On September 15, local time, the emergency summit of the Arab-Islamic States ended in Doha, Qatar's capital, with the summit issuing a communiqué condemning the Israeli attack on Qatar and calling on Arab and Islamic countries to unite in responding to common challenges and threats.

Local time September 15, 2025, Doha, Qatar, the venue of an emergency summit of Arab-Islamic States in 2025

On the same day, the special meeting of the Supreme Council of the Gulf Arab Co-operation Committee (GCC) was also held in Doha and issued a statement condemning Israeli actions.

Israel launched an attack on Doha on September 9 in response to Hamas¡¯ leadership. This was the first direct military attack on the Gulf Arab states in Israel¡¯s history, causing widespread condemnation by Arab countries and the international community. Sun Dae-tung, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Qatran, said in an interview with Newsweek (www.thepaper.cn), that from the results of the two summits, ¡°Arab nations, especially the Gulf Arab nations, have already regarded Israel as a ¡®problem maker¡¯ in the region, politically and diplomatically, Arab nations are actively building a unified front against Israel.

Dong Zhihai, director of the Political Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in West Africa, said that Israel took military action against six Arab countries in 72 hours last week, "fundamentally shaken the confidence of regional countries in the realization of peace in Pakistan, peace in Israel and regional security", "the Arab countries did not dare to trust the United States and Israel, and the peaceful sincerity of Israel has completely lost confidence."

Two summits unanimously condemned

According to a communiqué issued by the Arab-Islamic State Emergency Summit, the Israeli act of aggression is a blatant violation of Qatar¡¯s sovereignty, a blatant violation of international law, and a serious threat to regional and international peace and security.This attack on the neutral site violates not only Qatar¡¯s sovereignty but also undermines international mediation and peace process.

On the same day, the Supreme Council issued a statement stating that Israel's attack on Qatar was a blatant infringement on the international community and international organizations' efforts to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, release hostages and detainees, and a blatant violation of international law.The Supreme Council strongly condemns Israel's aggression and blatant violation of Qatar's sovereignty, stressing that this act of aggression is dangerous and unacceptable and is a serious violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

The Israeli attack on Qatar has greatly altered the judgment of Arab countries, especially the Gulf Arab states, about the current situation in the region, said Sun DeGong, ¡°Formerly Arab countries, especially the G6 countries, viewed the region as the biggest threat to the Middle East as Iran, believing that Iran continued to interfere with the situation of Arab countries through agents, but now, they see Israel as the region¡¯s ¡®problem maker.¡¯¡±

Qatar Emir (Head of State) Tamim said at the opening ceremony of the 15th Arab-Islamic State Emergency Summit that Israel's attack on Qatar was state terrorism. Israel's attack on the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) negotiating representative, intended to disrupt Gaza ceasefire negotiations, "If Israel wants to assassinate Hamas' leadership, why negotiate with it?"

Egyptian President Sisi also said at the summit that Israeli attacks on Qatar violated seriously international law, setting a dangerous precedent. He warned that Israeli uncontrolled behavior would exacerbate conflict and undermine regional stability. Egypt was the first Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel and has long played the role of mediator on the Israeli issue.

Local time September 9, 2025, the moment in Doha, Qatar, Israel attacked Hamas leaders

Earlier on Friday, Iran¡¯s President, Mr. Pezzhiyan, urged Islamic State to break diplomatic ties with Israel, saying that ¡°we should act together to resist Israel¡¯s actions, as Israel violated the sovereignty of some Arab and Muslim countries with a false pretext of self-defense.¡±

The New York Times that Israel's attack on Qatar was a "surprising turning point." While Qatar has not yet established diplomatic relations with Israel, the two countries have longined friendly relations. Qatar also allows Hamas' political leaders to live and operate in its territory. Since the outbreak of the conflict two years ago, these relations have made Qatar a key mediator in Israeli and Hamas ceasefire negotiations, but today, this critical role is "in danger".

According to Sun DeGang, Israel¡¯s military action against Qatar has broken Qatar¡¯s ¡°state of ¡®right source¡¯ between Israel and Hamas¡±, ¡°this middle zone is gone, so Qatar has broken the silence.¡± At the same time, Arab nations are also concerned that if they don¡¯t speak at this time, I¡¯m afraid that the next target will be themselves.

The Gulf countries want to launch a ¡°collective security mechanism¡±

Andria Desi, an assistant professor of international relations at the University of Rome, said in an interview with the Peninsula TV: ¡°The Doha summit marks a shift in the attitude of Arab-Islamic nations, as Arab and Muslim leaders agree that the security architecture in the region must change.

The Supreme Council of the OAS stated that the OAS will launch the Joint Defence Mechanism, stating that ¡°the leaders of the member states have ordered the Joint Defence Committee of the OAS to convene an emergency meeting in Doha, before which the Supreme Military Committee of the OAS will convene an emergency meeting aimed at assessing the state of defence preparedness of the member states, identifying the source of threat in the context of Israel¡¯s aggression to Qatar, and instructing the Joint Military Command to take the necessary measures to strengthen the collective defence mechanism and deterrent capabilities of the Gulf region.¡±

The communiqué firmly supports Qatar in taking all necessary measures in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations to safeguard its security, sovereignty and stability, and reaffirms the collective security concept of the Arab and Islamic countries, stressing the need to remain united in dealing with common challenges and threats, and the importance of establishing corresponding enforcement mechanisms.

Dong Zhiang said that the launch of the ¡°collective security mechanism¡± proposed by the Summit is an important action taken by the Summit, which is partly a policy response to the unreliable and unreliable security protection of the United States, but also a response to Israel¡¯s growing security threats to the region, ¡°showing that the Gulf countries have a clear awareness of the need to rely on their own to safeguard national security in the turbulent situation.¡±

According to Qatar Peninsula TV, Tamim, speaking at a special meeting of the Supreme Council of Qatar, said that Qatar was ¡°suffered from a betrayal of justice¡± and called for ¡°concrete measures to address the state of power madness, arrogance and bloodthirst that the Israeli government has fallen into, and the consequences that have been caused and are ongoing.¡±

According to Sun, in fact, Qatar has recently been ¡°very angry¡± with the United States, ¡°In three months, Qatar has been attacked by Iran and Israel, but the United States hasn¡¯t acted.In recent years, the Middle East Arab countries have spent huge amounts of money buying U.S. weapons, allowing U.S. troops to deploy bases, but not bringing any benefits to their own national security¡±, ¡°these countries may turn from the past to ¡®fall aside¡¯ against the United States to implement more strategic autonomous policies, holding security issues firmly in their own hands, and no longer relying entirely on the United States to protect themselves.¡±

However, both experts said that as the entire security structure in the Gulf region is still dominated by the United States, the problem of unity within the Gulf Arab countries, such as the conflict between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, is still to be resolved, and the Gulf countries want to truly realize military strategic autonomy, I am afraid there is a long way to go.

The Middle East or ¡°everyone at risk¡±

Tammim said the attack on Qatar proved that Israel had "no real intention of achieving peace" and warned of Israel's ongoing expansionist actions in the region, but it is worth noting that, despite the harsh statements made by Arab and Islamic countries, neither of the two summits announced direct political and economic measures to respond to the Israeli attack on Qatar.

At a press conference after the summit, UAE Secretary-General Budawi urged the Trump administration to take action to curb Israel¡¯s behavior.Budawi said the Gulf Arab nations hope that the United States can use its influence on Israel to make it stop this behavior, ¡°they have influence on Israel and now is the time to use that influence.¡±

But the reality could be even worrisome for Arab nations. At the same time as the summit was held, Israel continued to launch attacks on the Gaza Strip. The Jerusalem Post confirmed on the 16th that the Israeli Defense Forces had ¡°attacked¡± Gaza City on the evening of the 15th.

Meanwhile, the United States does not seem to change its consistent stance on firm support for Israel. On September 14, local time, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio arrived in Israel for a visit. According to BBC reports, he and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu jointly visited the "Wall of Cry" in the old city of Jerusalem on the same day, during a visit, Netanyahu told reporters that U.S. relations were "solid as a rock."

At a subsequent joint press conference, Netanyahu said that Rubio¡¯s visit clearly indicated that the United States was standing with Israel and that Rubio was largely inclined to Israel¡¯s narrative of the war.

Don Zhihuang said that Rubio¡¯s ¡°should have publicly criticized Israel¡¯s trip but turned into a journey of expressing ¡®solid as a rock¡¯ support,¡± and that the U.S. policy is difficult to satisfy Arab countries, ¡°for Arab countries, from a political and technological point of view, this assault operation is impossible without U.S. permission and a certain degree of military support.¡±

The series of Israeli actions exposed Netanyahu¡¯s government¡¯s uncompromising stance on Hamas, the abandonment of the ¡°two-state plan¡± and its ambition to annex Palestine, and to restructure the regional landscape, he said, meaning that ¡°the security threat in the Gulf region is shifting from Iran to Israel, ultimately leading to the loss of confidence in the Gulf Arab countries in the United States, and the security landscape in the Middle East will also be restructured.¡±

Sun said that in the future, the entire Middle East region is afraid that there will be no distinction between the arc of turmoil, the arc of prosperity, the arc of stability, "the Middle East is no longer a country, a place can be outside. Like a country such as Qatar seeking neutrality, followed by the United States, find their security is not guaranteed, then for the entire Middle East, I am afraid to fall into the state of 'everyone' self-danger, seeking external protection is unreliable, and the spread and spread of regional risks may also be inevitable. "

Sun DeGong said that from the current situation, only the ¡°Global South¡± and ¡°Global West¡± have reached a united front in support of Palestine, putting tremendous pressure on the United States, prompting the U.S. government to change policy, and Israel will make concessions and return to the ¡°two-state scheme¡± framework.