The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates met today in Abu Dhabi with a senior official of the Palestinian Authority to discuss international efforts aimed at achieving an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to the state news agency WAM.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan also discussed with the general secretary of the Executive Committee of the OAP (PLO) Hussein al-Sheikh the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza due to the war.

The head of the UAE’s diplomacy emphasized that negotiations regarding the framework of a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians for the two-state solution are a priority.

The United Arab Emirates is one of the few Arab states to have formal diplomatic relations with Israel, having normalized them in 2020 as part of of the so-called Abraham Accords under the auspices of the USA.

Qatar and Egypt brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in late November that freed 110 hostages held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

The United Arab Emirates has condemned the attack launched by Hamas on October 7, calling on the Palestinian Islamist movement to release hostages. At the same time, however, he has condemned the Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip, exerting pressure on the UN Security Council to reach a new ceasefire agreement.