Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Tuesday directed the bloc’s Joint Defense Council to convene an emergency meeting in Doha, preceded by a session of the Military Committee, to assess the region’s defense posture and sources of threat following Israel’s attack on Qatar.

They also instructed the GCC Unified Military Command to take necessary operational steps to activate joint defense mechanisms and strengthen the bloc’s deterrence capabilities.

In a statement, the GCC Supreme Council stressed that “the Israeli aggression against Qatar constitutes a direct threat to Gulf collective security as well as to regional peace and stability.”