The latest Twitter war surrounding the crisis in the Gulf has taken a supernatural turn after a senior correspondent with a Saudi Arabia-based news network accused Qatar of witchcraft.

Hundreds of social media users over the weekend sarcastically hit back online under the hashtag "Qatar deals with genies", created after Al-Arabiya's Khalil Walid Abajoud posted a series of tweets accusing Doha of conjuring spirits to assist it in its dispute with neighbouring Gulf countries.

"Sorcerers from Senegal and Mauritania get millions of dollars after sheikhs in Qatar offer to bring down spirits and harness genies to solve the crisis," wrote Abajoud.

مشعوذون من السينغال و موريتانيا يحصلون على ملايين الدولارات بعد تواصلهم مع شيوخ في قطر عرضوا عليهم استنزال الأرواح وتسخير الجن لحل الأزمة — الخليل ولد اجدود (@KHjdoud) July 8, 2017

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar on June 5 over allegations the country funds "terrorism" and is too close to Iran - allegations Qatar has repeatedly denied.

The Saudi-led group offered to end the blockade last month in return for Qatar's compliance on 13 points, including to shut down the Al Jazeera Media Network, to scale back ties with Iran and to close a Turkish military base.

Qatar has rejected the demands as an attempt to limit its sovereignty, while human rights agencies have accused the Saudi-led group of attempting to curtail press freedom in the region.

Twitter users, many of them displaying Qatari flags in their user profiles, responded to allegations of sorcery and witchcraft with humour.

Several Twitter users suggested it was time for Doha to open its own branch of the famed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from JK Rowling's Harry Potter book series.

Since this hashtag is going on #قطر_تتعامل_بالجن we should consider opening a Qatari hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry . — TA 🥀 (@TAlsiddiqi) July 9, 2017

Others posted pictures and GIFs of the character Albus Dumbledore, head of JK Rowling's Hogwarts school, showing evident exasperation.

Waking up to this now? #قطر_تتعامل_بالجن 😂😂 I guess this is what happens when you know you've lost the battle.. ridiculousness 🤦🏼‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/NeVG6bv5Ue — Bam🇶🇦روضة المعاضيد (@__225Bam) July 9, 2017

One Twitter user posted a GIF of the character "Jafar" from the children's movie Aladdin, implying evil Qatari genies had been enraged over the accusations.

Nour al-Mohanadi posted a GIF of a line of ghosts merrily punching in for a day at work, writing: "Just another day at work in Qatar."

Just another day at work in Qatar

D town #قطر_تتعامل_بالجن pic.twitter.com/VCBqN1sfIK — Nouf AlMohannadi (@Noufij) July 9, 2017

Others posted videos and photos of witches hiding.

Whelp they caught us better go back into hiding #قطر_تتعامل_بالجن pic.twitter.com/eLfS9ZmHGJ — Feisal 🇶🇦 (@feisal93) July 9, 2017

Seriously? 🤦🏻‍♀️ they every time come up with a new fake accusation

so what is the next ?😂 #قطر_تتعامل_بالجن pic.twitter.com/goNsVgCgkk — NM (@enalhail) July 9, 2017

Amr al-Nasser posted a photo from the popular American cartoon The Simpsons, poking fun at a strange group photo taken with a mysterious glowing orb during US President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia in May.