Meeting Netanyahu, Emirati FM calls for Gaza truce, hostage release, 2-state solution
Top UAE official says minister conveyed Abu Dhabi’s position ‘closing the file on Israeli annexation of Palestinian territories’; no immediate comment from Prime Minister’s Office
UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan stressed the need for a Gaza ceasefire and rejected a potential Israeli annexation of Palestinian territories in a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on Friday, according to statements by the UAE Foreign Ministry and a senior Emirati official.
Hebrew media reported ahead of the meeting that the top Emirati envoy was also set to update Netanyahu on US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war, and warn that the UAE’s normalization agreement with Israel could be harmed as a result of potential annexation.
Netanyahu’s office has yet to comment on the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The premier’s right-wing flank has demanded he annex parts of the West Bank in response to a recognition of Palestinian statehood by a number of Western nations, including Britain, France and Canada, earlier this week.
It was Netanyahu’s first public meeting with a senior Gulf official since Israel’s September 9 attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar, which the UAE condemned and protested by summoning Israel’s deputy ambassador.
According to Emirati state news agency WAM, the Friday meeting was also attended by UAE Ambassador to Israel Mohammed Mahmoud Al-Khaja and the Emirates’ special envoy Lana Nusseibeh.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-netanyahu-meeting-emirati-fm-calls-for-gaza-truce-hostage-release-2-state-solution/