The United Arab Emirates issued a stern warning on Wednesday, declaring that any attempt by Israel to annex the occupied West Bank would cross a “red line.” The UAE, however, did not elaborate on how such a move might affect the normalisation agreement between the two countries.
The warning came as Israel proceeded with the first phases of its latest offensive in Gaza, a region already suffering from severe famine. Israeli airstrikes on Gaza throughout the night and into Wednesday resulted in at least 31 deaths, according to local hospital reports.
The UAE played a key role in the 2020 Abraham Accords brokered by US President Donald Trump and saw the UAE and three other Arab nations establish formal ties with Israel. Trump has expressed hopes of expanding the accords, potentially bringing regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia into the fold during his second term, reports AP/UNB.
Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati diplomat, posted on X that “annexation is a red line.” He shared a Times of Israel article where another UAE diplomat, Lana Nusseibeh, stated that annexation would “severely undermine the vision and spirit of (Abraham) Accords, end the pursuit of regional integration, and would alter the widely shared consensus on what the trajectory of this conflict should be – two states living side by side in peace, prosperity, and security.”
The UAE did not specify any possible actions in response to the annexation, and the country’s Foreign Ministry did not provide further comments when contacted for clarification.
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Mideast war, and Palestinians have since sought these territories for their future state. However, Israel’s current government opposes Palestinian statehood and is in favour of annexing much of the West Bank.
On Wednesday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich held a press conference revealing a map showing plans for annexation of most of the West Bank, with only six Palestinian cities left with limited autonomy. It remains uncertain whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed this plan.
Many Palestinians and much of the international community view annexation as a move that would effectively end any remaining chances for a two-state solution, which is widely seen as the only viable resolution to the decades-old conflict.
Meanwhile, in Israel, protests erupted across the country against the call-up of 60,000 reservists for the expanded operation. The demonstrations have drawn international condemnation, with critics accusing Netanyahu of prolonging the conflict for political reasons rather than negotiating a ceasefire with Hamas to release hostages taken during the October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the ongoing war.
