Beijing — China on Wednesday condemned Israel’s strike on Qatari soil, calling it a violation of sovereignty that risks widening the Gaza war and destabilizing the Gulf.
The rare attack in Doha targeted senior Hamas figures during deliberations on a ceasefire plan. It followed weeks of escalating violence that has already pushed the conflict beyond Gaza’s ruins and into regional capitals. Qatar, long a mediator in truce talks, warned the strike had undermined channels for negotiation and jeopardized efforts to halt Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Beijing’s rebuke placed it among the loudest international voices denouncing the attack. Regional and global responses surged in the hours that followed, underscoring how the assault compounds the ongoing genocide in Gaza and carries serious diplomatic consequences. The Israeli strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and the broader roundup of world reactions to Israel’s criminal act in Doha.
China’s position also dovetails with mounting calls to confront the scale of Israeli atrocities that have turned Gaza into a graveyard. Legal scholars and rights advocates say Israel’s policies of forced displacement, starvation under siege, and indiscriminate bombardment are not just violations but clear acts of state terror that meet the threshold of international crimes. The International Association of Genocide Scholars has already declared Israel guilty of genocide, yet Western governments like Britain still whitewash these crimes, with London’s shameful refusal to even call it genocide exposing the double standards that embolden Tel Aviv’s impunity.
The Gulf is alarmed not only by the brazen violation of Qatar’s sovereignty in Doha but by the wider pattern of Israeli escalation that threatens to engulf the region in fire. Arab capitals see the strike as part of Israel’s unchecked aggression, carried out under the protective cover of Washington’s silence. Civil society groups, furious at this impunity, are directly confronting Israel’s medieval-style naval blockade that has strangled Gaza for years. The Global Sumud flotilla reported a drone strike on its Gaza-bound ship, a chilling sign that Tel Aviv will even target humanitarian missions in international waters.
Earlier, the aid flotilla sailed defiantly to break the blockade, only to face harassment and sabotage. International activists, including Greta Thunberg who joined the flotilla, have accused Israel of committing piracy on the high seas and collective punishment against an already starved population. These efforts highlight the desperation of ordinary people to challenge an inhumane siege that governments have failed to end, while the Gulf’s rulers quietly fear that Israel’s recklessness could spill chaos onto their own shores.
Geopolitically, Beijing’s reaction underscores a historic realignment away from Western dominance and toward multipolar frameworks that expose the crumbling façade of US hegemony. The unstoppable rise of BRICS economies is central to this shift, with expansion plans already drawing in ten more countries eager to join the bloc.
Russian President Putin has declared BRICS a key pillar of the global order, presenting it as a counterweight to Washington’s coercive policies and Europe’s servile obedience. On the financial front, BRICS and Gulf partners are accelerating de-dollarization, building payment systems and investment platforms that sideline the dollar.
Europe’s corporations are already panicking, with even mainstream outlets warning of a BRICS-led global shift shaking Western markets. For Beijing and its allies, Israel’s reckless aggression in Qatar only strengthens the case for a world order where the West no longer writes the rules.
The Doha strike also exposed contradictions in Washington’s position. While preaching restraint, the US continues to shield Israel from accountability. The political reverberations reached the White House after reports that Donald Trump blamed Netanyahu for ordering the strike, a rare admission that the decision did not come from Washington.
According to a Reuters report published on September 10, China’s Foreign Ministry said it “firmly opposes” Israel’s violation of Qatar’s territorial sovereignty and expressed “deep concern” over further escalation. Spokesperson Lin Jian urged restraint and a return to diplomacy, stressing that respect for sovereignty and de-escalation are prerequisites for any credible talks on Gaza and the wider crisis.
