Qatar's al-Jazeera TV channel said on Friday that the country and Mauritania have decided to cut their ties with Israel.

The decision was made when about 12 to 13 Arab leaders held an emergency summit on Friday afternoon to discuss the grave situation in the Palestinian territory of Gaza Strip.

However, al-Jazeera did not give any details about the news.

Earlier in the day, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urged at the Doha summit that Arab nations should cut ties with Israel which has been pounding the Palestinian enclave of Gaza since December 27.

The Arab-Israel peace initiative is "dead", Assad told the meeting, calling for the Arabs to cease "all direct and indirect ties" with the Jewish country.

As for Syria, Assad said his country will kill the long-stalled indirect talks over the disputed Golan Heights with Israel under the auspices of Turkey.

The Doha emergency summit, hastily proposed by Qatar on Monday, was held as scheduled despite it did not reach the quorum of two thirds of the 22-member Arab League to hold such a summit with regional heavyweights Egypt and Saudi Arabia refusing to attend.