Qatar’s foreign ministry “warns that (Israel’s) escalating policies will ultimately ignite the region and undermine its security and stability”, it said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that Israel had “no alternative” other than to resume military operations in Gaza after its efforts to secure the release of hostages failed.

“Without the release of our hostages, Israel has no alternative but resuming military operations”, he said on X, accusing Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas of rejecting an offer to extend the ceasefire’s first phase that ended earlier this month.

As well as freeing the roughly 60 captives still in Gaza, Israel wants Hamas to disarm and step down from power in the territory. The Iran-backed group, designated a terrorist organization by the US and many other countries, had been calling for Israeli troops to withdraw.

Hamas said at least 404 people have been killed while many others are missing since the airstrikes began.

The Gaza operation, along with others overnight by Israel on Lebanon and Syria and US attacks on the Houthis in Yemen since Saturday, have ended the relative calm in the Middle East in recent weeks.
Gold and oil prices have risen. The former increased to a fresh all-time high, while Brent crude is up about 2.1% to $72.04 a barrel in the past two days, heading for its best week since early-January. The Israeli shekel weakened 0.7% as of 12:23 p.m. local time, the worst performer in Bloomberg’s basket of 31 ‘expanded major’ currencies.

The Gaza bombardment is the fiercest since a truce brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the US started in January. It officially ended in early March “- with Hamas having released around 35 hostages and Israel freeing more than 1,000 imprisoned Palestinians. There was no official extension of the deal as the warring sides disagreed on the way forward during talks through the mediators.
Israel had warned that it could restart military operations if Hamas didn’t agree to release more hostages, of which it believes around 25 are alive.

After the strikes began, Hamas said Netanyahu had decided to “overturn the ceasefire agreement, putting the captives in Gaza at an unknown fate.”

The group earlier accused Israel of failing to meet its commitments under the truce, citing the Netanyahu government’s decision to stop aid supplies getting into Gaza.

Large swathes of the Palestinian territory have been destroyed in the 17 months of war, with the vast majority of its 2 million population displaced. More than 48,000 people have been killed, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health authority.
Hamas planning attacks
In recent days, Israel gathered evidence that led it to conclude Hamas was planning attacks on Israeli troops in the Gaza buffer zone and a cross-border raid into Israeli communities along the lines of the October 2023 attack that triggered the war, according to a senior military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. About 1,200 people were killed in the October 7 raid and 250 abducted.

Israeli intelligence saw what it believed to be Hamas preparations for such actions, the officer said, with the experience of Oct. 7 informing the military’s decision to act preemptively, rather than wait and see if they are serious.

The officer said the air operation is ongoing and decisions about whether to increase activity would be made by the government.

Hostage familes
The renewed attacks are opposed by some of the families of hostages.
“The worst fear of the families, of the hostages and of the citizens of Israel has come to pass,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, one of the biggest such groups in Israel, said on Tuesday. “The Israeli government has chosen to give up on the hostages.”

Far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition government said Israel had no choice.

Israel consulted the US on the operation, the White House said.

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An air strike blamed on Israel on Iran’s consular annex building in Damascus on April 1, 2024 killed, according to Tehran, seven members of the Revolutionary Guards, including two of top rank.
The recent killings are only the latest in a long list.In December 2023, a commander died in Syria in an attack blamed on Israel, a year after a colonel was killed, also in Syria.

In May 2022, Sayyad Khodaei, a member of the Quds Force, the unit in charge of the Guards’ external operations, was gunned down by two motorcyclists on his way home in Tehran. According to the New York Times, Israel told the United States that it was responsible for the hitjob.

General Hassan Moghadam, responsible for armament programmes, was killed in an explosion at a munitions depot in November 2011 close to Tehran, in an operation blamed on the United States and Israel.
Iran’s nuclear programme
Israel has also been accused of carrying out targeted assassinations against several high-ranking Iranian physicists, often linked to Tehran’s nuclear programme. Among them are nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, killed in November 2020 and presented after his death as a vice minister of defence.

Scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, who was working on the Natanz nuclear site, and Majid Shahriari, the founder of Iran’s nuclear society, as well as particle physics professor Massoud Ali Mohammadi were others killed over the years. Israel has also been accused of sabotaging Iranian nuclear installations, mainly the Natanz complex to the south of Tehran.

On April 11, 2021, the site saw a small explosion, according to Iran’s atomic energy agency.

The New York Times reported that Israel played a part in the “strong blast” that apparently took out the internal electric system supplying uranium enrichment centrifuges.

Another “accident” also hit Natanz in July 2020, in what Iran’s atomic agency had said was a “sabotage”.

In September 2010, a cyberattack using the Stuxnet virus took out the enrichment centrifuges at Natanz.

Iran accused Israel and the United States, while information security experts also pointed the finger at Washington.
Iran’s allies
Iran’s allies too have found that Tehran is not always safe shelter.

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed on July 31 in Iran’s capital in an attack blamed on Israel. He was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian petrol
In March 2021, the Wall Street Journal, citing US and Middle East officials, reported that Israel had in 2019 targeted at least a dozen vessels travelling to Syria and in most cases, transporting Iranian petrol.

The report said Israel had deployed underwater mines in the assault.

Through 2021, Israel and Iran accused each other of naval sabotages.

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Even as attention has shifted to Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and rising tensions with Iran, Israel has continued to strike at what it says are Palestinian militant targets across the Gaza Strip.
Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza killed at least 27 people, Palestinian medical officials said. The Israeli military said it targeted Palestinian militants, but people sheltering there said the strike hit a meeting of aid workers. An aid group said staff killed in strike on school.
The Israeli strike in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah killed 27 people, including a child and seven women, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were brought. An Associated Press reporter saw ambulances streaming into the hospital and counted the bodies.
The Israeli military said it targeted a militant command and control centre inside the school, without providing evidence. Israel has repeatedly attacked schools that were turned into shelters in Gaza, accusing militants of taking cover in them.
Witnesses said the strike occurred while school managers were meeting with representatives of an aid group in a room normally used by Hamas-run police who provide security. They said there were no police in the room at the time.
The Palestinian branch of Terre des Hommes, a Swiss aid group, said in a statement that members of one of its children’s health teams were killed in the strike, without specifying how many.
There were no militants. There was no Hamas, said Iftikhar Hamouda, who had fled from northern Gaza earlier in the war.The Hamas-run government operated a civilian police force numbering in the tens of thousands. They largely vanished from the streets after the start of the war as Israel targeted them with airstrikes, but plainclothes Hamas security personnel still exert control over most areas.

Hamas has continued to launch attacks on Israeli forces more than a year after the Palestinian militants’ October 7 attack on southern Israel that ignited the war. The militants stormed into Israel in that attack, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. They are still holding around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced around 90 per cent of its population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times.

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After a 14-year study in Israel’s Nazareth, Archaeology Professor Ken Dark is convinced that Jesus grew up in ruins beneath Sisters of Nazareth Convent.

The home apparently dates back to the first century and believed to be built by Saint Joseph who was married to the Virgin Mary and Jesus’ legal father.

This is not the first time someone has carried out excavations on that particular site. The first attempt made by the nuns of the Sisters of Nazreth Convent. This was carried out after biblical scholar Victor Guerin in 1888 asserted that it was Jesus’ home. On his suggestion, the excavation went on till the 1930s. After that another set of excavations were done at the same place between 1936 and 1964.

These explorations didn’t turn up anything and that the location fell dormant until Professor Dark started a new project there in 2006.

He published the article in 2015 suggesting it was the home of Mary and Joseph.

The professor said that the excellent craftsmanship and a structural understanding of rock were consistent with it having been built and owned by a tekton- a carpenter, stonemason or builder.
Professor Dark also found fragments of pottery at the site which were commonly used by Jewish families of the era.

In the Bible, Joseph is carpenter but was also referred to in the New Testament as tekton- a craftsman who would have been capable of building the home.

Dr Dark also explained that the house became part of the crypt below a Byzantine church that pre-dated the convent. He identified it as the ‘Church of the Nutrition’, described in the seventh-century pilgrim account ‘De Locis Sanctis’. The house was so-called because it was built to encapsulate the house where Jesus was brought up.

While there is no solid conclusion, all evidence suggests this could have been the place where Jesus Christ spent his childhood years.

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The MoU covers the following areas of cooperation:

• Exchange and training of medical doctors and other health professionals
• Assistance in development of human resources and setting up of health care facilities
• Exchange of information regarding regulation of pharmaceutical, medical devices and cosmetics
• Sharing expertise for vulnerability assessment for health of citizens against climate risk and public health actions targeted towards mitigation and adaptation
• Sharing of expertise for facilitating climate resilient infrastructure as well as providing support for development of ‘Green Healthcare’ (climate resilient hospitals).
• Promote mutual research in various relevant areas.
• Any other area of cooperation as may be mutually decided upon.
• Each Party shall encourage the participation of the representatives of their countries in round tables, seminars, symposia, workshops and conferences on issues of cooperation, organized by the other Party’s relevant bodies.

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UAE citizens will soon be able to travel to Israel without a visa for a maximum of 90 days per visit, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. A mutual visa waiver memorandum of understanding was signed between both countries and will come into effect after its ratification.

Omar Saif Ghobash, Assistant Minister for Culture and Public Diplomacy, signed on behalf of the UAE, while Shlomo Mor-Yosef, Director-General of the Population and Immigration Authority of the Ministry of Interior, signed on behalf of Israel on October 22.

Ghobash underscored that the visa waiver will strengthen cooperation between the two countries and have a positive impact on tourism, trade, investment, and other sectors.

A visiting UAE delegation to Israel signed a number of agreements on October 20 to support cooperation in investment, tourism, financial services, and technology between the UAE and Israel.

The UAE delegation is led by Obaid bin Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, along with Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, and Omar Ghobash as well as numerous government officials from the Ministries of Finance, Economy, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Industry and Advanced Technology. The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is also a participant.

Both sides discussed ways to elevate relations in a number of key fields. Agreements were signed for promotion and protection of investment; air services; mutual exemption of entry visa requirements; memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the fields of science and technology; MoU on mutual economic cooperation; and declaration of intent on establishing cooperation in the field of financial services.

The GCAA signed an air transport services agreement with the Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority to strengthen bilateral air transport relations. It was signed at a meeting held at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv by Minister Touq Al Marri, who is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the GCAA, and Israeli Minister of Transport Israel Katz.

“Under the agreement, Emirati airlines will be able to operate 28 passenger flights to Tel Aviv and unlimited flights to Eilat every week, in addition to cargo flights. As for unscheduled flights, we have agreed to not place any restrictions,” Al Marri said.

Flights between the UAE and Israel are expected to start in a matter of weeks and the new agreement will promote tourism and trade between the two countries.

Since the announcement to establish relations between the UAE and Israel on August 13, the two countries have moved rapidly to expand cooperation across vital sectors, including health, technology, energy, tourism, and education.

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India is among 169 nations who voted in favour of the resolution.

The Omnibus Resolution on Comprehensive and Coordinated Response to the Covid-19 pandemic was overwhelmingly adopted by the 193-member General Assembly on September 11.

The resolution acknowledges the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) “key leadership role” in responding to the outbreak, a reference the United States objected to as it opposed the resolution.

The US and Israel voted against the resolution and Ukraine and Hungary abstained. The US had accused WHO of mismanaging the COVID-19 pandemic and also siding with China.

India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu tweeted “India votes in favour of the Covid-19 omnibus resolution in the General Assembly recognising the pandemic as one of the greatest global challenges that calls for a global response based on unity, solidarity and multilateral cooperation.”

The resolution “reaffirms its commitment to international cooperation, multilateralism and solidarity at all levels and as the only way for the world to effectively respond to global crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic and their consequences, and acknowledges the key leadership role of the World Health Organisation and the fundamental role of the United Nations system in catalysing and coordinating the comprehensive global response to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The UNGA resolution also reiterated Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for a global ceasefire amid the pandemic in order to better facilitate the fight against COVID-19. The text also called for the removal of all “unjustified obstacles”, referring to the sanctions imposed on various countries, so that they could access factors needed to combat the disease outbreak.

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The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has commended Bahrain’s move to forge ties with Israel on September 11, and expressed hope that establishing relations would have a positive effect on the climate of peace and cooperation regionally and internationally, WAM reported.

The Ministry also noted that the move represents a significant step towards an era of security and prosperity, underscoring that it would expand the scope of economic, cultural, scientific, and diplomatic avenues of cooperation.

The same day, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, had received a phone call from US President Donald Trump with the participation of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During the call, King Hamad stressed the need to reach a just and comprehensive peace as a strategic option, in accordance with the two-state solution and relevant resolutions of international legitimacy.

The Bahraini King praised the pivotal role and steady efforts of the US administration to advance the peace process, establish security and stability in the Middle East and strengthen international peace.

According to Bahrain News Agency, President Trump extended an invitation to Bahrain to participate in the signing ceremony of the peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel on September 15 at the White House.

The joint statement issued after the call stated, among other things: “The parties will continue their efforts in this regard to achieve a just, comprehensive, and enduring resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to enable the Palestinian people to realise their full potential. Israel affirmed that as set forth in the Vision for Peace, all Muslims who come in peace may visit and pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s other holy sites will remain open for peaceful worshippers of all faiths.”

It also commended the UAE and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for announcing full diplomatic relations with Israel.
At the White House ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani will be signing a historic Declaration of Peace, it added.

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The UAE capital Abu Dhabi has asked all hotels in the emirate to start including kosher food on their menus. This is part of the friendly gesture shown by Abu Dhabi since the normalisation of relations between the UAE and Israel announced on August 13. The peace treaty — named Abraham Accord after the Biblical patriarch revered by Jews and Muslims alike — will be signed at a White House ceremony on September 15.

“All hotel establishments are advised to include kosher food options on room service menus and at all food and beverage outlets in their establishments,” the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) – Abu Dhabi said in a circular.

It further directed all hotel establishments to seek kosher certification for handling kosher meals; designate an area in all their kitchens for preparation of kosher food; and label kosher menu items with a clear and visible label/reference with a recognisable symbol that denotes ‘kosher’, as per acquired certification.

Kosher – derived from the Hebrew word meaning pure or fit for consumption – food refers to food that is prepared according to Jewish dietary laws and ritually slaughtered like halal food is to Muslims. To qualify as kosher, mammals must have split hooves, and chew their cud; fish must have fins and removable scales; and birds should be non-predatory. Hence pork, rabbit, shellfish, insects, reptiles or mixing meat and dairy products like in a cheeseburger are non-kosher.

Ross Kriel, president of the Jewish Council of the Emirates, welcomed the news as a “wonderful expression of welcome and hospitality” by Abu Dhabi, and saw it as a sign of an influx of Jewish visitors to the Arab country soon. “It is expected that annual number of visitors could be in the range of 150,000 to 300,000. The UAE is a wonderful destination and is quickly equipping itself to receive Jewish visitors,” he told an Israeli daily. His wife Elli runs Elli’s Kosher Kitchen in Dubai, which is the first kosher catering business in the country.

The US-based Orthodox Union (OU) announced that it will be the leading kosher certification agency in the UAE. The UAE government requested OU to take up the position after the organization supervised the kosher food served to the Israeli delegation to Abu Dhabi in early September.

It will be responsible for kosher food at hotels in the UAE, and at events, including Expo 2020 next year.

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The UAE’s signing of a peace accord with Israel will not violate the rights of the Palestinian people, and will only open prospects for prosperity and stability in the region, observed Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, in his speech at the 154th edition of the Arab League Council, held remotely.

Mr. Gargash, speaking at the Foreign Ministers meeting, stated that the strategic and sovereign decision of the UAE to sign the peace accord follows Israel’s suspension of its annexation of Palestinian territory. This is a successful and important step towards achieving peace while meeting the demands of all involved countries and the international community, he noted.

One of the objectives of the Arab Peace Initiative is to reach a fair and sustainable solution to the Palestinian issue, Gargash pointed out, and now a unique opportunity has presented itself to revive peace efforts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.

He stated: “The Palestinian cause is the central and pivotal cause of the Arab region and the UAE is stressing its fixed stance in support of the establishment of a Palestinian state based on its borders of 4th June, 1967, with its capital in East Jerusalem, in compliance with the legitimate international resolution and the Arab Peace Initiative.”

He stressed that the UAE’s decision to normalise its relations with Israel is a sovereign and strategic one that is not aimed at any party, and not related to the current polarisations taking place in the region.

The Minister highlighted the UAE’s respect and appreciation for the Palestinian community in the country and their positive contributions to the development process over five decades.

“The UAE’s decision to make peace with Israel is based on a realistic vision. Its leadership decided to normalise relations with Israel to develop vital economic and development sectors in the region, as well as to create new opportunities for cooperation in this strategic area of the world, which will benefit its peoples,” said Gargash.

The UAE Minister also condemned the interventions of Iran and Turkey in the internal affairs of Arab countries.

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Days after it made a commercial passenger flight to the UAE, Israel’s national carrier El Al has announced that it will start cargo flights to Dubai on September 16.

The flight is scheduled to take off from Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, the airline said in a statement on September 3. Unlike the direct passenger flight on August 30 which flew over Saudi airspace, the cargo service will fly via Liege in Belgium to Dubai, the Israeli airline said.

“The weekly El Al cargo flight to Dubai will enable Israeli companies connectivity in import and export from and to Dubai, as well as Asia in transfer from Dubai,” El Al said. The Boeing 747 aircraft will be carrying “agricultural and high-tech equipment” from Israel to the UAE on a regular Wednesday fixture in the future; the return flights from Dubai will be on Fridays.

El Al has been hit hard by the pandemic and is in advanced negotiations for a government bailout to avoid bankruptcy.

Saudi airspace opens up
Meanwhile, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority confirmed on September 2 that Saudi Arabia has opened its airspace to all flights from and to the UAE.

The same day, Saudi and US officials reviewed prospects for the peace process in the region and the need to resume negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides to achieve a just and lasting peace. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, who is the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, met Senior Advisrr to the US President, Jared Kushner, and his accompanying delegation to discuss partnership between the two countries.

Kushner, who was in the kingdom after a historic meeting between UAE, US and Israeli officials on August 31- September 1, said “fully normalised relations” between Israel and Saudi Arabia were an “inevitability”.

Saudi Arabia, like Israel and the UAE, consider Iran a common foe and maintains close ties with Washington.

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A tripartite statement to this effect was issued by the three nations during the current visit to the UAE by a top US-Israeli delegation, led by Jared Kushner, Senior Adviser to US President Donald Trump. Excerpts from it read thus:

“… The accord has initiated a historic breakthrough in normalizing ties between Israel and the UAE and has led to the suspension of Israel’s plans to extend its sovereignty. The United States and the UAE urge Palestinian leaders to reengage with their Israeli counterparts in discussions aimed at achieving peace.

“…Israeli and Emirati ministers, from foreign affairs to food security, have initiated their first official discussions on continuing and strengthening cooperation.
“…The UAE and Israel wish to express their gratitude for the overwhelmingly positive response to this historic accord from governments around the world….
“We hope and expect that in the near future our collective efforts will set in motion a cascade of positive changes, both large and small, that will put our respective peoples and the wider region on a solid path to security, prosperity and peace.”

On August 31, the joint US-Israeli delegation was received at the airport by Dr. Anwar Gargash, UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. His Highness Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Adviser, later met the delegation which includes US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and National Security Adviser and head of the Israeli National Security Council Meir Ben-Shabbat. Also present at the joint meeting was His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The meeting also addressed the trajectory of relations between the UAE and Israel and ways to enhance future collaboration in various fields to the benefit of both countries.

The joint delegation arrived in the UAE on board an Israeli commercial plane of El Al airlines, the first to land on the country’s soil since the declaration of the peace accord.

Upon landing in Abu Dhabi, Meir Ben-Shabbat read his first statement to the media in Arabic starting with the Islamic greeting “As-salamu alaykum” meaning “Peace be upon you”.

“…We are here to turn a vision into a reality,” he told the reporters in Arabic. “There are no limits for improvement in many fields like innovation, tourism, aviation, agriculture, energy and many others.”

Ben-Shabbat, who has been Israel Prime Minister’s national security adviser since 2017, read his second statement in Hebrew.

Kushner, who is US President Donald Trump’s chief Middle East adviser, highlighted the fact that the UAE in 2019 celebrated “Year of Tolerance” and hosted Head of Catholic Church, Pope Francis, who became the first-ever pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula.

“And this year they welcomed Israel,” Kushner said. “I want to thank His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces for his leadership and courage. He is truly leading the new Middle East.”

The delegation will depart Abu Dhabi on September 1.

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The first flight to the UAE from Israel landed on the tarmac of Abu Dhabi airport at 3:38 p.m. local time on August 31 carrying a delegation from Israel and the United States, following the historic August 13 accord between the two countries.

The chartered El Al airliner carried US President’s son-in-law and senior Middle East adviser Jared Kushner, US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, and Head of Israel’s National Security Council Meir Ben-Shabbat.  Expressing his happiness to be heading the Israeli delegation, Ben-Shabbat read his statement in both Arabic and Hebrew.

“This is a historic flight and we hope that this would start a more historic journey for the Middle East and beyond,” Kushner said. “The future should not be determined by the past.”

Flight LY971 – numbered to represent the UAE’s international dialling code – made the three-hour trip, crossing Saudi Arabian airspace, normally blocked to Israeli air traffic. The return flight will be numbered LY972, after Israel’s international dialling code.

The Boeing 737 flight would have taken seven hours if it had not been allowed to use Saudi airspace, its captain Tal Becker said. Israel and Saudi Arabia do not share diplomatic relations.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it the “first ever Israeli commercial flight”  to the UAE, and the UAE Foreign Ministry termed it the same.

The plane flew the flags of all three nations and had “peace” newly stencilled above the pilot’s side window in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

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Speaking at an event hosted by the US Atlantic Council think tank, Gargash said that “several Arab countries” are on the path of normalizing ties with Israel. The region needs a strategic breakthrough, he said.

“We are committed… as part of the international consensus on the two-state solution, and any embassy will be in Tel Aviv. So that is quite clear,” the minister said during the virtual session with the Atlantic Council Front Page. “The whole idea of suspending annexation, giving space and opportunity for negotiating the two-state solution, you know… it is evident where our embassy will be.”

The US is one of the few countries that has recognised Jerusalem as the Israel’s capital and moved its embassy there in 2017. President Trump at a campaign rally on August 17 said he did it for the evangelicals in the US.

Regarding the UAE’s role in finalising a peace deal between Israel and Palestine, Dr. Gargash said: “We don’t negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians.” He added the final shape of the emergence of the peace deal will be decided by Palestinians and Israelis. “But we all need to urge the Palestinians to engage and negotiate.”

“The UAE saw an opportunity because we’ve always been urged by the Palestinians to help in stopping annexation. By linking (the agreement) to the suspension of annexation, we came out with a good deal.

“This is going to be a warm peace because, unlike Jordan or Egypt, we have not fought a war with Israel,” Gargash said. Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979 and with Jordan in 1994.

Calling the UAE a dynamic Arab country that wants to “break a lot of barriers”, Dr. Gargash said that would not be possible with an “exclusivist view of the world through an Arab prism”.

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“I have no doubt that future generations will appreciate the way you, the brave and wise leaders, have restarted the discourse on peace, trust, dialogue between peoples and religions, cooperation, and a promising future,” Rivlin said, in the letter to HH Sheikh Mohammed.

Direct flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Israel is in talks to have direct flights to the UAE flying over Saudi airspace, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said on a visit to Ben-Gurion Airport on August 17. Israir has already put in a request to begin direct flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, he said.

“It is a short flight of three hours, like to Rome, but it will greatly change Israeli aviation and the economy, with a great number of tourists on both sides and a great number of investments,” Netanyahu said.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the Israeli prime minister said that Emiratis are interested in “massive investment” in Israeli technology, and that free trade zones in the Emirates will allow for inexpensive goods to be imported into Israel. “It is a boost to the Israeli economy and good for every citizen,” he added. Direct flights to the UAE will make flying to and from Israel easier for many people and also shorten travel time from Israel to East Asia and Oceania.

The Israel Foreign Ministry confirmed that staff on the ground is searching for a site in Abu Dhabi for the Israeli Embassy.

On August 17, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said that his country’s new ties with Israel was not aimed at targeting Iran after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the agreement a betrayal. The UAE summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires in Abu Dhabi on August 16 to give a strong note of protest against the ‘inflammatory’ speech.

“The UAE-Israeli peace treaty is a sovereign decision that is not directed at Iran,” Gargash tweeted. “We do not accept interference in our decisions, just as we reject threats and threats… Strategic decisions are transformative and have their impact and our decision on our future enhances our position and our competitiveness.”
The agreement makes the UAE the third Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan, to have full, active diplomatic ties with Israel.

Mossad chief Yossi Cohen visits UAE
Interestingly, Yossi Cohen, the chief of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency Mossad, visited the UAE for security talks on August 18. Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE National Security Adviser, praised the efforts made by Cohen which contributed to the success of the peace accord between the UAE and Israel. They discussed “cooperation in the fields of security”.

Oman’s support
Meanwhile, Oman’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah spoke over the telephone to his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi on August 17 about “recent developments in the region,” the Sultanate’s foreign ministry said on Twitter.
Oman, along with Bahrain, had already expressed its support for the deal, and Bin Alawi told Ashkenazi that Muscat “clearly reaffirms its position calling for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace” in the Middle East.

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Both leaders emphasised their commitment to fulfil the provisions of the peace treaty and promote peace and regional development.

Meanwhile, the Emirates company APEX National Investment signed a strategic commercial agreement with the Israeli TeraGroup to develop research and studies on COVID-19.

The agreement aims at conducting and enhancing research and studies related to the disease as well as developing a testing device for speeding up the COVID testing process, and providing it with high accuracy in accordance with best international practices.

APEX National Investment is an investment company in the field of public investments, including the healthcare sector with a dedicated focus on establishing field hospitals at maximum speed and equipping them with the necessary high-standard equipment.
Established in 2003, TeraGroup branched out of the distinguished Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. It focuses on fast and safe, one-minute COVID-19 breathing tests using Tera sensing, which guarantee immediate, cost-effective results.

TeraGroup’s BioSafety testing is conducted in selected countries around the world, including the Emirates Field Hospital in Abu Dhabi, with plans to expand the testing to cover the entire UAE.

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