A preparatory meeting in Doha on Sept. 14, 2025, ahead of an emergency Arab-Islamic summit organized following the Israeli strike of Sept. 9, 2025. (Credit: Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AFP)
BEIRUT — President Joseph Aoun arrived in Doha on Monday morning to join Arab leaders in Qatar for an emergency summit organized by Doha as a means to establish a coordinated response to Israel's attack on the capital last week.
Aoun heads a delegation including Foreign Minister Joe Rajji, Lebanese Ambassador to Qatar Farah Berri, and Lebanese permanent representative to the Arab League Ali Halabi.
The president was received at Hamad International Airport by Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Culture Minister Abdelrahman bin Hamad and other Qatari officials. The summit is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. Beirut time, during which Aoun is due to deliver a speech.
It is not completely clear yet how many leaders will be attending, but estimates put the number around 80, drawing from the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and 22-member Arab League.
By noon, some of the notable arrivals in Doha included: Syria’s new leader Ahmad al-Sharaa; Emomali Rahmon, president of Tajikistan; Sudan’s army chief and de facto head of state, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan; and Rashid Meredov, prime minister of Turkmenistan, according to Doha-based Al Jazeera.
Israel's Sept. 9 assassination attempt targeting Hamas negotiators as they mulled over a U.S. cease-fire proposal that Israel had said just hours earlier it approved of, killed five members of the party but left its senior leadership alive. The attack prompted U.S.-allied Gulf states to close ranks and strained normalization — as well as plans for normalization — with Israel. Qatar described the Israeli attack as "state terrorism."
Rajji meets his Qatari counterpart
Rajji was received by his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, on the sidelines of the emergency summit, Qatar’s state news agency QNA reported. The two discussed bilateral ties and regional developments following the Israeli strike on Doha. The Qatari minister said his country would take "all necessary measures" to protect its security and sovereignty in the face of "blatant Israeli aggression." Rajji expressed Lebanon’s solidarity with Qatar, calling the attack a violation of its sovereignty and international law.
An excerpt of a draft resolution to be put before the summit, seen by Reuters, said "the brutal Israeli attack on Qatar and the continuation of Israel's hostile acts — including genocide, ethnic cleansing, starvation, siege, and colonizing activities and expansion policies — threaten prospects of peace and coexistence in the region."
These actions threaten "everything that has been achieved on the path of normalizing ties with Israel including current agreements and future ones," according to the draft, which was drawn up during a meeting of foreign ministers, including Rajji, on Sunday in Doha.
In the section dedicated to Lebanon in the draft, the ministers called for the "urgent need for international action to curb repeated Israeli aggressions in the region and put an end to ongoing violations of the sovereignty, security and stability of states, including the Republic of Lebanon."
Rajji meets Araghchi
On the sidelines of the summit, Rajji held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. They had “an in-depth discussion on the situation in Lebanon and the wider region,” Rajji said on X. “I spoke candidly about the Lebanese government’s decision to return to the state’s monopoly on arms and assert its sovereignty over the entire national territory. Mr. Araghchi reaffirmed his country’s commitment to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and refrain from any interference in its internal affairs.”
Rajji had refused to receive Araghchi during an official visit to Lebanon in June. He also summoned Iran’s ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, after Tehran voiced opposition to Hezbollah’s disarmament.
