Gulf states activate joint defense measures after Israeli attack on Doha
The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) Joint Defense Council convened an extraordinary session in Doha on Thursday, where it condemned the Israeli attack on Qatar as a “grave violation” of sovereignty and international law, and approved immediate steps to strengthen collective defense.
In an official statement, the council denounced the Israeli attack “in the strongest terms,” calling it a dangerous escalation and a blatant breach of international law and the UN Charter.
It stressed that an attack on Qatar is an attack on all GCC member states and voiced full support for measures taken by Doha to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The council warned that the aggression posed a direct threat to regional stability and undermined Qatar’s diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and secure the release of Israeli hostages and detainees.
Among the measures agreed, the council said it would be enhancing intelligence exchange through the Unified Military Command, sharing real-time air situation updates across GCC operations centers, and speeding up work on the GCC Joint Task Force for the Early Warning System against ballistic missiles.
It would also be updating collective defense plans in coordination with the Operations and Training Committee, as well as conducting joint air defense and operations center exercises within three months, followed by a live joint air exercise.
The ministers emphasized that the security of GCC states is indivisible under the Joint Defense Agreement and pledged to continue coordination at all military and intelligence levels to reinforce deterrence and ensure the safety of the region.
The meeting, chaired by Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs, Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan al-Thani, brought together defense ministers and senior representatives from all six GCC states, along with GCC Secretary-General Jassim Mohammed al-Budaiwi.
