Israeli talk of annexing Palestinian lands must stop: UAE Minister

A unilateral move by Israel to annex parts of the occupied West Bank would be a serious setback for the Middle East peace process, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash warned on Monday.

“Continued Israeli talk of annexing Palestinian lands must stop,” Gargash wrote on Twitter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said that his government would start on July 1 discussions over his plan to extend Israeli sovereignty over areas in the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu said that Israeli sovereignty would be applied to 30 per cent of the occupied West Bank, which is the equivalent of 50 per cent of Area C.

Area C represents 60 per cent of the occupied West Bank and is under full Israeli administrative and security control.

“Any unilateral Israeli move will be a serious setback for the peace process, undermine Palestinian self-determination, and constitute a rejection of the international and Arab consensus towards stability and peace,” Gargash added.

Over the past few years the UAE has increasingly come under criticism for normalizing relations with Israel to the detriment of the Palestinian cause.

In 2017, Wikileaks revealed that normalization between the UAE and Israel was ongoing via secret and public channels and through the Emirati Ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al-Otaiba. Adding that ties between the two states had improved since the opening of the International Renewable Energy Agency in Abu Dhabi in 2015.

The Emirates has also seen to be backing US President Donald Trump’s so-called ‘deal of the century’ which outlines his vision for peace in the Middle East. The plan has been rejected by Palestinians has giving Israel everything it has asked for and eradicating Palestinian rights.