Did UAE Stop All Diplomatic Relations With Israel? (file image@ HayekAmir)
Reports emerge that the United Arab Emirates has suspended diplomatic relations with Israel. According to Israeli media i24 News, the UAE is “outraged” with Israel over the killing of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza Strip.
According to the Israeli media, the UAE announced suspension of coordination of humanitarian aid with Israel in the wake of killing of the World Central Kitchen workers. The media said official sources confirmed the decision of cutting ties between UAE and Israel, marking the crisis between the countries.
The media outlet said that the Emirati foreign ministry expressed “outrage” with the Israeli ambassador Amir Hayek over the incident. It said that efforts are underway to address the crisis, as Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz engages in phone call with Abdullah bin Zayed, his Emirati counterpart.
According to i24 News, Director General of the Israel Foreign Ministry Yaakov Blitshtein also met with Ambassador Mohammed Mahmoud Al-Khaja, as an attempt to find a resolution. Al Khaja said that the current state of affairs is “the darkest day in the relations between the countries”, as quoted by the Israeli media.
No official announcement regarding the suspension of ties between Israel and UAE was released by either countries.
The UAE is one of the countries that signed the Abraham Accord deal in September 2020, normalizing ties with Israel. Last year, Al Jazeera reported that UAE benefitted from the accords “with 450,000 Israelis visiting the UAE between January 2021 and January 2023 and Israeli companies doing business in the Gulf country as well”.
Even after Israel was placed at the receiving end of global condemnation for its genocidal war on Gaza, UAE, the Islamic country was not ready to severe ties with Israel.
While addressing World Government Summit last month, top Emirati diplomat Lana Nusseibeh defended the ties between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv. She said, “because of that cooperation… we have a field hospital in Gaza and we have a maritime hospital docking in the Al Arish port… residents of Gaza, it’s not enough. What we need… is a humanitarian ceasefire and a two-state solution”.
