UAE warns Israel of ‘red line’

One envoy says annexing West Bank would undermine nations’ accord

- By WaFAA SHURAFA, Sam Metz AND JON GAMBRELL

SAEED M.M.T. JARAS Anadolu PALESTINIANS flee northern Gaza with their belongings on Wednesday amid Israel's intensified offensive.

The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday warned that any Israeli move to annex the occupied West Bank would be a “red line,” without specifying its possible effect on the landmark normalization accord between the two countries.

The warning came as Israel pressed ahead with the initial stages of its latest major offensive, in famine-stricken Gaza City. Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Wednesday killed at least 31 people, according to local hospitals.

Israelis took part in nationwide demonstrations to protest the call-up of 60,000 reserves for the expanded operation, which has sparked global condemnation and left the country increasingly isolated.

The demonstrators accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the fighting for political purposes instead of reaching a ceasefire deal with the militant group Hamas that would free hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.

The UAE was the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords brokered by President Trump, in which it and three other Arab countries forged ties with Israel. Trump has said he hopes to expand the accords in his second term, potentially to include regional power Saudi Arabia.

Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati diplomat, wrote on X that “annexation is a red line.”