UAE Delivers ‘Red Line’ Warning on West Bank Annexation Amid Escalating Gaza Offensive

The United Arab Emirates has issued a stark warning to Israel, declaring any move to annex the occupied West Bank a “red line.” This diplomatic intervention signals potential repercussions for the 2020 Abraham Accords, coming as Israel presses ahead with a major offensive in the Gaza Strip that has resulted in a significant increase in casualties and intensified humanitarian concerns.

Overnight and into Wednesday, Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 31 people, according to local hospitals. The offensive has heavily impacted famine-stricken Gaza City, where humanitarian groups report that families are trapped by prohibitive moving costs and a dire lack of safe havens. The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Wednesday that six more people, including a child, died from malnutrition, bringing the total starvation-related deaths to 367 since the war began.

Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati diplomat, reiterated the warning on social media, linking to a report where another Emirati diplomat, Lana Nusseibeh, stated that annexation would “severely undermine the vision and spirit of (Abraham) Accords” and jeopardize regional integration and the pursuit of a two-state solution. The UAE was a pivotal force behind the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords, which normalized ties between Israel and several Arab nations.

Domestically, the ongoing conflict has fueled nationwide protests in Israel, with demonstrators criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for prolonging the fighting and demanding a ceasefire to secure the release of hostages taken in the October 7, 2023, attack. Concurrently, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich unveiled a controversial map Wednesday proposing the annexation of most of the West Bank, a plan widely condemned internationally as potentially ending any prospect of a two-state solution.

In related developments, Israeli police arrested the owner of a Palestinian cafe and bookshop in East Jerusalem, confiscating several books, in what his attorney described as an effort to suppress intellectual production. Meanwhile, Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, announced it recently arrested a Hamas cell in the West Bank suspected of plotting to assassinate far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir using explosive-rigged drones.

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