Gaza war shadows GCC Summit: A closer look at the forty-fourth gathering

The Gaza war cast its shadow over the agenda of the forty-fourth summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

A summit that solidified the reconciliation among the six Gulf countries, following the initial reconciliation two and a half years ago, marked by the complete breakthrough in Qatari-Bahraini relations, with the Turkish president as a guest.

The absence of the Emir of Kuwait and the Sultan of Oman due to health reasons was notable, while the other leaders attended.

This is the seventh summit hosted by Doha since the establishment of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the first after the Gulf reconciliation. The lengthy final statement was carefully prepared during the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Council on Sunday in the Qatari capital.

There was an escalation in Qatari rhetoric against Israel, stating that the occupying state cannot justify self-defense and rejecting double standards from some Western countries.

The statement emphasized that ceasefires are not a substitute for a comprehensive cessation of hostilities to end the aggression, as outlined in the summit's final statement.

The summit, which discussed several Arab issues, condemned in the Yemeni file what it referred to as the continued foreign interventions in Yemen's internal affairs and the smuggling of military experts and weapons to the Houthi militias in explicit violation of the resolutions of the Security Council.