Speeches, Statements & International Documents

STATEMENT BY THE HONOURABLE ANWAR IBRAHIM

PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA

AT THE EMERGENCY ARAB-ISLAMIC SUMMIT DOHA,

15 SEPTEMBER 2025

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

Your Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani,

Amir of the State of Qatar

 

Your Majesties, Your Highnesses, Excellencies,

Malaysia condemns, in the strongest and most unequivocal terms, the Israeli airstrikes on this very city of Doha. To rain bombs on the capital of a sovereign state is lawless, barbaric and indefensible. It was an assault on Qatar’s sovereignty, a violation of international law, and a reckless provocation that endangers the security of the region.

The gravity of this outrage is deepened by Qatar’s vital role as a mediator. Guided by the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, this nation has laboured with perseverance and wisdom to foster dialogue. To strike Qatar is to blatantly sabotage those very efforts for peace. This attack must be regarded as an attack against us all. It is a calculated assault where no nation is to be spared in pursuit of the Israeli Zionist design.

Meanwhile, Gaza continues to be crushed before our very eyes. Its people have endured decimation and devastation without precedent: families wiped out, hospitals reduced to ruins, children buried under rubble.

In the West Bank, the colonial politics of dispossession continues unabated. This barbarity has expanded to attacks and bombardments on Lebanon and Syria, Yemen and Iraq, with attacks on Iran as well. This pattern of lawlessness shows utter contempt for the very foundations of civilisation and international order.

Israel has declared that there will never be a Palestinian state. Let us be clear: this is a declaration of permanent apartheid. It is a repudiation of every UN resolution and the right of selfdetermination.

Our people have become weary of words. They have watched us issue condemnation after condemnation, declaration after declaration, while Israel escalates with impunity. As future generations will ask whether we found the courage to act, we do not ask nations to go beyond their basic obligations.

Excellencies,

Those of us with special relationships with the United States carry a particular responsibility. When America sought dialogue with Iran, Israel answered with bombs. When Washington encouraged mediation with Hamas, Israel struck here in Doha.

And today, even as we meet, a flotilla sails once more toward Gaza, bearing not the implements of war but the promise of aid for a besieged people. It is a mission of mercy, and we must do all in our power to see that it reaches its shore. To let it be turned back with violence is to betray the charge that our conscience have placed upon us: to defend the weak, to shelter the oppressed, to give food to the hungry.

Condemnations will not stop the missiles. Declarations will not free Palestine. Severe punitive actions must be put in place. Diplomatic engagements must cease and so must trade relations.

May Allah grant us the courage to act and the strength to endure.