United Arab Emirates Warn Israel

A senior Emirates official, Lana Nusseibeh, said such a move would be the death bell of two states for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry said it welcomed the position of the United Arab Emirates, it broadcasts Telegrafi.

The Israeli government has not commented. But Nusseibeh's comments came after far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich discovered a proposal for annexing approximately four fifths of the West Coast.

Israel has built about 160 settlements that house 700,000 Jews since it invaded the West Coast and East Jerusalem that Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a future, hoped-for state during the 1967 Middle East War. About 3.3 million Palestinians live near them.

One of the main conditions of the United Arab Emirates for signing was for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah's previous government to ban its plans to annex parts of the West Coast, including the settlements and the Jordan Valley.

Netanyahu said at the time that he had agreed to “performed” plans, but that they remained “on the table”.

Many ministers in his current right-wing ruling coalition and pro-colonists have long supported annexing a part or a whole West Coast.

But they are said to have debated whether to advance such plans in response to recent reports by the United Kingdom, France and a number of other countries that intend to recognise the State of Palestine this month.

Netanyahu has said that recognition of citizenship following Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza, would constitute “a reward for terrorism”.

The United Arab Emirates are one of 147 UN member states that already recognise the State of Palestine.

From the beginning, we saw [Abraham's] Agreements as a way to enable our continued support for the Palestinian people and their legitimate aspirations for an independent state”, said Nussseibeh, assistant minister for political affairs of the United Arab Ministry of Emirates.

“Anexact on the West Coast would constitute a red line for the United Arab Emirates. It would seriously damage the vision and spirit of the agreements, end the pursuit of regional integration and change the general consensus on what should be the trajectory of this conflict -- two states living side by side in peace, prosperity and security”, she added.

Hours ago, Smotric ʹ an ultranationalist leader and colonist with control of the Western Coast's planning said at a news conference in Jerusalem that “has come the time” for annexation.

The “ide of the country's division and the creation of a terrorist state in its centre should be removed once and for all from the table”, he added.

He presented a map that said he indicated a proposal by the defence ministry's administration of settlements for “the implementation of Israeli sovereignty” in approximately 82% of the territory, which he said was in line with the principle of the “maximum Arab soil at the minimal”.

The remaining 18% of the territory was made up of isolated enclaves around six Palestinian cities -- Jen, Tulkam, Nablus, Ramallah, Jerico and Hebron.

Bethlehem was among many cities, towns, and other Palestinian villages that were not included, while East Jerusalem was already annexed by Israel in 1980, in a move not recognised by the overwhelming majority of the international community.

Smotric said Palestinians would continue to manage their lives, in the near future the same way that this is done today through the Palestinian Authority, and later through regional alternatives to civil management”.

The Palestinian authority, which rules the areas of the West Coast that are not under the full control of Israel, said Smotrich's plan constituted a <x0 direct threat” for hopes for a Palestinian state. /Periscope/