UAE Says Israeli Annexation of West Bank Would Cross 'Red Line'
Emirati official warns such a move would fatally undermine the two-state solution and the spirit of the Abraham Accords; Palestinian Authority welcomes the stance
The United Arab Emirates warned Israel on Thursday that formally annexing the occupied West Bank would cross a "red line" and undermine the spirit of the 2020 Abraham Accords, a senior Emirati official said.
Lana Nusseibeh, a senior Emirati official, said such a move would be "the death knell of the two-state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry said it welcomed the UAE's position. The Israeli government had not commented.
Nusseibeh's remarks followed a proposal unveiled by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to annex roughly four-fifths of the West Bank. The plan has reignited international concern about unilateral Israeli steps that critics say would make a viable Palestinian state ever more difficult to achieve.
Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. Since then it has built about 160 settlements in those territories, housing roughly 700,000 Jewish settlers, while an estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank alongside them. Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the occupied territories illegal under international law.
The Abraham Accords, brokered by the United States in 2020, led to full diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. The agreements were presented at the time as a shift in regional dynamics, with participating Gulf states citing security and economic interests in normalizing ties. UAE officials have repeatedly said their support for normalization was linked to progress on Palestinian statehood and regional stability.
The Emirati warning underscores continued Gulf concern about unilateral Israeli moves in the occupied territories and reflects the diplomatic sensitivity that the Abraham Accords introduced to the Israel-Palestinian question. Palestinian leaders, long opposed to annexation, say such steps would effectively end prospects for an independent Palestinian state encompassing the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
Western governments and international organisations have broadly opposed annexation proposals, warning they would contravene international law and exacerbate tensions. Smotrich's plan has drawn criticism from Palestinian officials and from some U.S. and European policymakers, although responses within Israel's governing coalition and among its diplomatic partners have been varied.
The debate over annexation arrives amid a broader stalemate in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Negotiations for a two-state solution have been dormant for years, while settlement expansion and periodic violence have continued to shape conditions on the ground.
The UAE statement represents a notable diplomatic intervention from a Gulf state that has normalised ties with Israel, signalling that formal relations do not equate to acquiescence on core issues related to Palestinian statehood. The Palestinian Authority's welcoming of the UAE stance highlights its reliance on regional backing to oppose unilateral steps that could alter final-status borders.
Officials in Jerusalem have not issued a response to the Emirati comments. It remained unclear whether Smotrich's proposal would secure the support of Israel's coalition government or be pursued as formal policy. International legal and diplomatic debate over settlements and annexation is likely to continue as regional and global actors weigh the implications for stability and the prospects for renewed negotiations.
The conflict over territory, sovereignty and security in the West Bank continues to be one of the central unresolved issues of the wider Middle East peace process, with regional agreements and shifting alliances adding new diplomatic considerations to long-standing disputes.