US secretary of state calls Knesset votes on imposing sovereignty ‘counterproductive’ as he begins two-day visit to Israel
Settlement building has been expanding in the occupied West Bank rapidly since 2022 when Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government came to power. It is the most right-wing in Israel’s history, featuring several ultra-nationalist lawmakers.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the most prominent Arab country to establish ties with Israel under the Abraham accords brokered by US president Donald Trump in his first term in office, last month warned that annexation in the West Bank was a red line for the Gulf state.
Senior Emirati official Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, told the Reuters NEXT Gulf Summit in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday that he believed the Gulf state had averted annexation.
The UAE national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, discussed on Wednesday developments related to the ceasefire in Gaza and efforts to consolidate it with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Emirati state news agency WAM reported.
