UAE presses Netanyahu to back Trump Gaza plan, warns against West Bank annexation

The UAE is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept President Donald Trump's Gaza peace proposal at their meeting later on Monday and to abandon any plan to annex the West Bank, a delegate with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The United Arab Emirates, the most prominent Arab country to normalise ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords, warned Netanyahu that annexation would shut the door to further Israeli normalisation with leading Arab and Muslim nations, including Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, the delegate added.

The Israeli leader faces pressure to annex the West Bank from far-right politicians who want to extend sovereignty over the area and snuff out hopes for a Palestinian state.

A senior Israeli official has said that Netanyahu will give Israel's response to Trump's Gaza peace proposal when he meets the US leader at the White House on Monday.

UAE urges Israel to engage seriously with Trump plan

The UAE's position on Trump's Gaza peace plan was communicated to Netanyahu by its Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, in a meeting with the Israeli leader on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday, the delegate said.

The contents of Sheikh Abdullah's remarks to Netanyahu at the meeting have not been previously reported.

There was no immediate response from Netanyahu's office to a request for comment.

Sheikh Abdullah, whose country wields diplomatic sway across the Middle East due to its wealth, strategic location and assertive foreign policy, said the UAE backs the US plan, describing it as offering significant benefits to all parties.

He called on Netanyahu to engage seriously with the Trump administration to move the plan forward to implementation, the delegate said.

Trump met several Arab and Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last week to promote his 21-point framework to end the nearly two-year-old Gaza war and win freedom for captives still held in Gaza.

On Sunday, Trump told Reuters he hoped that at the Monday meeting, he would get Netanyahu's agreement on the framework. The White House said on Monday that Israel and Hamas are "very close" to agreeing a framework deal to end the Gara war.

Abdulaziz al-Sager, Chairman of Saudi-based Gulf Research Centre think tank, said Saudi Arabia welcomed two key commitments he said Trump had made: No forced deportation from Gaza and no annexation of the West Bank.