UAE Says It’s Ready to Facilitate Israel-Palestinian Peace Efforts

The United Arab Emirates stands ready to facilitate peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians, the de facto ruler of the Gulf state said in remarks carried on state media on Sunday.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan made the comments in a telephone call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country, with U.S. support, brokered a ceasefire on Friday that ended the fiercest fighting in years between Israel and Hamas.

The UAE, which last year normalized ties with Israel, “is ready to work with all parties to maintain the ceasefire and explore new paths to reduce escalation and achieve peace,” state news agency WAM cited Sheikh Mohammed as saying.

The Crown Prince stressed however the need for “additional efforts, especially by Israeli and Palestinian leaders.”

UAE ambassador to Washington Yousef al-Otaiba said last month that the establishment of formal channels under the Abraham Accords would allow the Gulf state to play a similar diplomatic role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Egypt and Jordan, which have peace deals with Israel.

Meanwhile, Lynn Hastings, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said the U.N. would launch an appeal to repair the damage in densely populated Gaza, where there is a threat of COVID-19 spreading.

U.S. President Joe Biden has said Washington will work with U.N. agencies on expediting humanitarian aid for Gaza “in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal.”

Palestinian officials put reconstruction costs in Gaza at tens of millions of dollars.