The UAE has joined a key group of countries that have supported US President Donald Trump's new peace plan for Gaza.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan issued a statement welcoming the framework outlined by the White House on Monday.
Mr Trump has unveiled a detailed plan to end the war in Gaza, redevelop the enclave and set the region on the path for what he promised could be "eternal peace". He announced the plan on Monday standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House. The 20-point plan states Gaza would become “a deradicalised terror-free zone” that will be redeveloped for the benefit of Gazans.
The foreign ministers said they welcomed “Trump’s leadership and his sincere efforts to end the war in Gaza, and assert their confidence in his ability to find a path to peace”.
They also said they were ready to engage positively and constructively with the US and other parties to finalise the agreement, state news agency Wam reported.
If the proposal is accepted by Israel and Hamas, the war will end immediately, the plan states. It appears improbable that Hamas will accept the conditions, which include releasing all hostages within 72 hours of Israel and Hamas accepting the terms. A Hamas official told The National that the group is studying the plan, despite adding that "there are non-negotiable principles that we cannot give up".
"The mediators have not presented the plan to us before tonight," said the Beirut-based official. The plan says Hamas can have no role "in any form" of governance in Gaza and all its military infrastructure would be decommissioned or destroyed.
Last week, US, Arab, European and Israeli proposals have coalesced at the UN General Assembly into what diplomats described as the most serious attempt yet to end the war in Gaza and shape the "day after". The National reported at the start of the high-level week that the US decided to present a comprehensive plan and that Washington might ask all relevant parties to formally sign on to it.
The road map, shaped over months of quiet consultation, was introduced by Mr Trump to senior Arab and Muslim officials during a meeting in New York on the sidelines of the General Assembly. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan were among the nations to take part in the meeting.
Under the proposal, the US would work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilisation Force to immediately be posted in Gaza.
