GCC Joint Defence Council holds meeting

Doha: The GCC Joint Defence Council held an extraordinary session on Thursday in Doha, the State of Qatar.

The meeting was chaired by Shaikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs of the State of Qatar and President of the Extraordinary Session of the Joint Defence Council. It was also attended by Dr Mohammed bin Nasser Al Zaabi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence of the Sultanate of Oman, Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Defence Affairs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lieutenant General Abdullah Hassan Al Nuaimi, Minister of Defence Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Prince Abdulrahman bin Mohammed, Deputy Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Shaikh Abdullah Ali Al Abdullah Al Sabah, Minister of Defence of the State of Kuwait and Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the GCC.

The Council discussed issues and topics related to the Israeli aggression and the blatant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the State of Qatar, threatening its security and stability. The Joint Defence Council condemned in the strongest terms this dangerous military attack, stressing that this aggressive act represents a dangerous and unacceptable escalation and a grave violation of the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

The Council affirmed that the attack on the State of Qatar is an attack on all GCC states, and that it supports them in all measures they take to confront this aggression, to preserve their security and defend their unity and territorial integrity.

The Council underscored that this attack poses a direct threat to the security and stability of the entire region and an infringement on the diplomatic and mediation efforts undertaken by the State of Qatar to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages and detainees.

They further emphasised that the security of the GCC states is indivisible, in accordance with the provisions of the Joint Defence Agreement.

In this regard, the Joint Defence Council decided the following: Increase the exchange of intelligence information through the Unified Military Command; work to transmit the air situation to all operation centres in the GCC states; Accelerate the work of the Gulf Joint Task Force for the Early Warning System against Ballistic Missiles; Update joint defence plans in coordination between the Unified Military Command and the Operation and Training Committee of the GCC countries and conduct joint exercises between air operation centres and air defence forces over the next three months, to be followed by a joint actual air exercise.

The Council agreed to continue work, coordination, and consultation at all military and intelligence levels to further enhance Gulf defence integration and work to intensify and link defence systems to confront all risks and challenges, ensuring the security, stability, and safety of all GCC countries, and confronting any potential threats or attacks that threaten the stability of the region.