The United Arab Emirates warned Israel on Wednesday that any annexation of the West Bank would be a red line for Abu Dhabi, threatening to undermine the Abraham Accords that normalised ties between the two states.
Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs and Envoy of the UAE Foreign Minister, said the accords were signed with the understanding they would support the Palestinians’ path to statehood.
“From the very beginning, we viewed the Accords as a way to enable our continued support for the Palestinian people and their legitimate aspiration for an independent state,” Nusseibeh told Reuters.
“That was our position in 2020, and it remains our position today.”
The remarks are the sharpest criticism from Abu Dhabi since Israel’s war in Gaza erupted in 2023. They follow an announcement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that construction would begin on a settlement project cutting across the West Bank, a step his office described as one that would “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Israel’s new settlement plan ‘undermines the two‑state solution while being a breach of international law’.
Foreign ministers from the EU, UK, Australia, Canada, and others condemned the plan, saying it violates international law and threatened regional stability.
Palestinian officials and rights groups have denounced the project as illegal under international law, arguing that it fragments territory and leaves no room for peace.
Nusseibeh urged Israel to halt the plans, saying “Extremists, of any kind, cannot be allowed to dictate the region’s trajectory. Peace requires courage, persistence, and a refusal to let violence define our choices.”
The Abraham Accords, brokered during Donald Trump’s first term as U.S. president, brought the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco into formal diplomatic relations with Israel.
Trump had sought to add Saudi Arabia to the framework, but the devastation in Gaza and the ongoing humanitarian crisis have shifted attention away from those ambitions.
Israel’s prime minister’s office has yet to respond to a request for comment on the UAE’s remarks.
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Lawyers warn that the case could eventually involve up to 1.8 million UK drivers across 14 brands, potentially making it the largest consumer class action in British legal history.
Official Tbilisi is aiming to establish a genuine and meaningful strategic partnership with Washington.
European stock markets opened the week on a positive note, buoyed by hopes of easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China and declining geopolitical risks in the Middle East.
The trilateral meeting between Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia aimed at strengthening economic and transport cooperation is considered a key platform for the region.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
The war in Ukraine has reached a strategic impasse, and it seems that the conflict will not be solved by military means. This creates a path toward one of two alternatives: either a “frozen” phase that can last indefinitely or a quest for a durable political regulation.
The Gaza summit held on 13 October in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, is being hailed as a significant diplomatic milestone for securing peace in the region.
A nor’easter bringing heavy rain and strong winds has caused widespread flooding across New Jersey.
Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina postponed a planned national address on Monday after a group of soldiers threatened to seize the headquarters of the state broadcaster, according to the presidency.
The European Union’s next wave of eastward enlargement, particularly involving candidate countries in Central and Eastern Europe, could prove decisive for Europe’s energy security and competitiveness.
Venezuela has closed its embassy in Oslo, Norway’s foreign ministry confirmed on Monday, days after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
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