The UAE yesterday said it had summoned the deputy Israeli ambassador over Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s subsequent ‘hostile and unacceptable’ remarks, in another sign of strain between the two countries with close economic and defence ties.
The UAE, the most prominent Arab country to normalise ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords, told David Ohad Horsandi “the continuation of such hostile and provocative rhetoric ...solidifies a situation that is unacceptable and cannot be overlooked,” the Emirati foreign ministry said in a statement.
Even before Tuesday’s strike on the Qatari capital Doha, relations between Abu Dhabi and Israel’s government – the most right-wing in its history -- had been uneasy over a planned Israeli annexation in the West Bank, which the UAE said would constitute a ‘red line’.
Israel’s attempt to kill Hamas political leaders prompted international condemnation, but on Wednesday an unrepentant Netanyahu warned Qatar to either expel Hamas officials or “bring them to justice, because if you don’t, we will”.
The UAE signed a US-brokered normalisation agreement with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020, which paved the way for close economic and security ties, including defence co-operation.
UAE President Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was the first state leader to visit Doha after the attack, and he toured Gulf Arab countries to co-ordinate positions on the Israeli strike.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli foreign ministry.
The Doha attack was especially provocative because Qatar has long been mediating Gaza ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas along with Egypt and the United States, and Doha was hosting the talks.
Doha will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit tomorrow and Monday to discuss the Israeli attack.
The Gaza conflict was triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Hamas killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 64,000 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, have since been killed in an Israeli military campaign in Gaza during the war, according to local health authorities.
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