UAE presses Palestinian cause during rare talks with Israel minister
By : AFP
Date: 7 Apr 2025
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Doctor Khaled Mohammed Abu Jari, 57, (L) head of the critical care department at the Beit Hanoun Hospital, looks on as members of his family prepare a fast-breaking iftar meal outside their tent in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. UN chief Antonio Guterres said he strongly endorsed an Egyptian plan put to Arab leaders at a summit in Cairo on March 4 for Gaza's reconstruction without displacement of its Palestinian inhabitants. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
Palestinians take shelter in tents amid heavily damaged buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on February 6, 2025 during a truce in the war between Israel and Hamas. In hunger-stricken makeshift shelters set up in former schools, bombed-out houses and cemeteries across the Gaza Strip, devastated by 15 months of war between Hamas and Israel, hundreds of thousands lack even plastic sheeting to protect from winter rains and biting winds, aid workers say. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP) / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Bashar TALEB has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [February 6] instead of [February 5]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.The United Arab Emirates foreign minister on Sunday pressed the need for a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict during a rare visit by Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar, an official statement said.
The UAE and Israel established relations in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords. But there has been little bilateral contact since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, after the Hamas attacks on Israel.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE deputy prime minister and foreign minister, and Saar discussed “the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip” and efforts to reach a ceasefire, said a UAE foreign ministry statement.
“Sheikh Abdullah stressed the priority of working towards a ceasefire and the release of hostages,” the statement added of the meeting in Abu Dhabi.
“He also reiterated the urgent need to advance a serious political horizon for the resumption of negotiations to achieve a comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution,” the statement said.
Israel, which has stepped up its military offensive in Gaza since the collapse of a ceasefire last month, did not give immediate details on the talks.
But Saar said on the social media platform X that it was his second meeting with Sheikh Abdullah.
“We discussed the full range of regional issues, as well as furthering bilateral relations between our countries. There are major challenges ahead of us in the Middle East, but there are partners for a better future of cooperation and stability,” Saar said.
