UAE warns Israeli annexation of West Bank would signal end of regional integration

The United Arab Emirates warned on Thursday that any Israeli move to annex the occupied West Bank would be a "red line" for Abu Dhabi, without going into further details or specifying any potential impact on the landmark Abraham Accords signed between the two countries in 2020 to normalise ties.

Senior Emirati diplomat Anwar Gargash wrote in a post on X that violating the prospects for a two state solution and moving in on the occupied West Bank would "end regional integration."

His post linked to another Emirati official, Lana Nusseibah, who spoke to Israeli media outlets and who issued a similar warning, implying that the fate of the "historic" accords would be in question.

"(Annexation would) severely undermine the vision and spirit of (Abraham) Accords, end the pursuit of regional integration and would alter the widely shared consensus on what the trajectory of this conflict should be, two states living side by side in peace, prosperity and security," said Nusseibeh.

It remains unclear what action, if any, Abu Dhabi would take in the case of an Israeli annexation, a prospect supported by several extremist ministers in the Israeli cabinet.

The UAE was the driving force behind the Abraham Accords, brokered by US President Donald Trump in his first term in office, which also saw Israel establish diplomatic ties with Bahrain and Morocco.

Trump had hoped the Accords would expand to include regional powerhouse, Saudi Arabia.

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich unveiled a map in a news conference on Wednesday, showing the annexation of four fifths of the West Bank, with six Palestinian cities left with limited autonomy.

It's unclear if his plan has Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's backing.

Palestinians and much of the international community say annexation would all but end any remaining possibility of a two-state solution, which is widely seen as the only way to resolve the decades-old conflict.

Israel continues to batter Gaza

The warning came as Israel pushes ahead with its latest major offensive on famine-stricken Gaza City in the north of the enclave. Israeli strikes continued late on Wednesday, killing at least 113 people within 24 hours, according to local health officials.

Gaza's Health Ministry said in its latest update on Wednesday that the death toll in the territory now stands at 63,746, since Israel launched its offensive on Gaza 23 months ago.

It’s figures do not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties, though the United Nations says more than two-thirds of deaths it has been able to independently verify were women and children.

The ministry also says that six more people died from malnutrition-related causes on Wednesday, including one child, as Israel continues to restrict the flow of food and basic necessities into the enclave, exacerbating an already grim humanitarian crisis.

They added that famine related deaths have now soared to 367, including 131 children.

Israel has been under mounting global pressure over its conduct of war following the Hamas-led incursion on 7 October, 2023.

Much of the international community accuse Netanyahu of manufacturing a humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip, and of using food and medicine as weapons of war, constituting a violation of international law.