ISTANBUL
UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where he stressed the need to end the war in the Gaza Strip, UAE’s state news agency WAM reported Saturday.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the ongoing 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, said the agency.
According to WAM, the two sides discussed “the latest regional developments and the efforts of the international community to end the war in the Gaza Strip.”
Bin Zayed underscored during the meeting the “need to bring an end to the bloody conflict in Gaza, reach a permanent and sustainable ceasefire.”
He further emphasized the need to “prevent further loss of life, and put an end to the crisis and the tragic conditions faced by civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
He also pointed to “UAE’s support for international efforts aimed at securing the release of all hostages and detainees,” stressing the “importance of concerted global action to confront extremism and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and to safeguard the lives of all civilians.”
Bin Zayed added that “the dire humanitarian situation of civilians in Gaza requires the mobilization of all possible efforts to ensure the unimpeded and sustainable delivery of humanitarian aid.”
He reiterated “the UAE’s unwavering commitment to supporting all initiatives aimed at achieving a comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, in a way that fulfills the aspirations of both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples, as well as all peoples of the region, for lasting security and stability.”
Commenting on the meeting, Anwar Gargash, adviser to the UAE president, said through the US social media company X: “Just as the UAE took a decisive stance in shutting down Israel’s annexation of Palestinian territories, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed’s meeting with the Israeli prime minister in New York tonight is a courageous step to support international efforts to end the Gaza war and reach a permanent ceasefire that puts an end to the humanitarian tragedy and strengthens the path to peace.”
On Sept. 3, UAE Minister of State Lana Nusseibeh had warned Israel against moving forward with plans to annex the West Bank, telling Israel’s Times of Israel news site that such a move would be a “red line” for her government, killing the idea of regional integration and the two-state solution.
In 2020, the UAE signed US-sponsored agreements with Israel to normalize their relations. Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco also followed suit.
The Israeli army has killed nearly 65,600 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. Months of air and ground assaults have left Gaza largely uninhabitable, pushing its population into famine.