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What does “sovereignty” mean in 2025? If you go back 25 years, to the turn of the century, the norm of respecting the sovereignty of other states, at least from invasion or bombing, was, if not cast iron, pretty robust. The world had united to ensure the liberation of Kuwait in 1991.

The last five years have offered an entirely different vista, with attacks on sovereign states increasing. Think of the Russian invasion of Ukraine back in 2014, including the occupation of Crimea, and then the crescendo of the invasion of the rest of Ukraine in February 2022.

This is the backdrop to the failed Israeli bombing of the Hamas negotiating team in Doha last week. It was not a one-off. There was no imminent threat to Israel. This has become a trend. Israel has bombed seven states in two years — Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Tunisia and Qatar. It has hit five regional capitals. Many wonder who is next in line.

Israel has historical form, having carried out assassinations all over the world, not least after the 1972 attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ratcheted up the brazen aggression, contemptuously ignoring global protestations. His ministers have not ruled out strikes elsewhere.

Qatar has every right to be furious, but also to expect solid backing from its partners. It hosted the Hamas leadership after it left Syria at the request of the US and with the agreement of the Israeli government, not least to prevent the group falling even further into the arms of Iran. Netanyahu used Qatari finance to help keep the Gazan economy afloat and a few steps away from a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Qatar has played a vital role in trying to broker a ceasefire deal, which Netanyahu has now bombed into oblivion.

Netanyahu has ratcheted up the brazen aggression, contemptuously ignoring global protestations

Chris Doyle

The US is in a pickle, caught between the conflicting positions of two of its Middle Eastern partners. It is the major sponsor of the Israeli government but is embarrassed at its aggression on a state that the US sees as an ally — and which hosts the largest American military base in the region. It is not just Qatar but every nation that feels it is part of the US security umbrella that will be watching how the Trump administration handles this.

But what about Europe? Much will be expected from the major European powers. Yes, the UK, France and Germany  the attacks, albeit they called for “restraint” from the parties, as if that was all Israel had to do. They have been more critical of Israel than in the past, but will they step up and take genuine action? The UK has a historic relationship with Qatar, which achieved its independence from London in 1971.

Yes, the British government was pretty quick to criticize the Israeli attack, but was the language of the same ilk as that used following the Russian drone incursion on Poland the same week? At the UN Security Council, the permanent British representative  of “an egregious violation of Polish and NATO airspace by Russian drones.” Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the Israeli strike a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and risked “further escalation across the region.” Where was the commitment, as with Ukraine, to protect Qatar’s borders? He spoke to the Qatari emir but did not, for example, see fit to cancel his ill-judged meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Downing Street.

States like Qatar, along with others in the region such as ������Ƶ and the UAE, will not be impressed with security guarantees from the US or Europe if Israel gets the exclusive right to be an aggressor.

Europe must harden its posture. Otherwise, it will be viewed as unwilling to make the tough, responsible calls

Chris Doyle

Note how many leaders from other areas of the world, such as Pakistan, Indonesia and Rwanda, are going to Doha in solidarity. European leaders should be showing similar levels of solidarity.

Imagine if Qatar decided to respond in kind against Israel. How would the European leaders respond if Qatar struck Israeli military targets? Would they say it was an understandable response to Israeli aggression?

European actors have to call time on Israel’s aggression and introduce effective sanctions. This also means toughening its position toward Washington. It means showing allies that security guarantees count.

All this should have happened even before the genocide in Gaza. The Israeli leadership has been pampered as it engages in state terrorism. If Europe is to be taken seriously in the Middle East, it must harden its posture. Otherwise, it will be viewed as a continent in political decline, unwilling to make the tough, responsible calls. It expected the rest of the world to push back against Russia’s aggression against Europe via Ukraine. The rest of the world is now expecting Europe to push back hard against Israeli aggression in the Middle East. The attack on Qatar should be the tipping point.

• Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech