In an extraordinarily surprising development, the United Arab Emirates (UAE has signaled the possibility of removing all Palestinians from Gaza, in accordance with Trump’s controversial Gaza plan.
UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba in a fresh interview called the plan “difficult but inevitable” and said he’s sees “no alternative” but Trump’s plan to expel Gaza’s population and undertake massive economic redevelopment of the Strip. He had been asked by a reporter whether the UAE is working on a separate plan, to which he responded no, there’s no other plan.
It was in September 2020 that the UAE announced the Trump-sponsored Abraham Accords for normalization with Israel. UAE has long been a close regional US-ally, but the ambassador’s words are still deeply surprising and might actually contradict the UAE’s official stance.
For example, regional media just yesterday reported:
The UAE, a key ally of both Israel and the United States in the Muslim world, has taken a firm stance against U.S. President Donald Trump’s reported plan for Gaza. In a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan strongly rejected any attempt to displace Palestinians or deny them their “inalienable rights.”
The country’s leadership has just this week called for a two-state solution. And per Reuters:
It said the UAE, one of the few Arab countries that normalised relations with Israel, categorically rejected any attempt to displace the Palestinians and deny them “inalienable rights”.
It could be that in breaking from the official government position, Amb Otaiba is trying to curry favor in Washington, or else he could be signaling to the White House that the UAE is ready to jump on board the US plan if other regional governments to as well.
But Arab nations have been pretty lockstep on the issue, and Jordan and Egypt in particular are not budging in terms of their vehement rejection of the Trump plan.
The White House itself appears to have moved the goal posts of late: “Right before walking away from the podium at the White House press briefing on Wednesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she had one more note to add: US President Donald Trump, she said, has tasked Arab nations to present him with a plan for the Gaza Strip,” Middle East Eye reports.
Read more here: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/uae-ambassador-says-arab-world-has-no-alternative-trumps-gaza-plan\
Also read: UAE’s new Blue Visa: Everything you need to know about it
