The United Arab Emirates (UAE) lashed out on Saturday at a suggestion from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join a potential civil administration in the post-war Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu suggested in a recent interview that a civilian administration with Gazans and possibly with the aid of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other countries could run Gaza after the war.
On Saturday, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed said his country denounces Netanyahu’s call, adding that Gaza is currently under Israeli occupation.
“The State of Emirates stresses that the Israeli prime minister has no legitimate capacity authorizing him to take this step,” the Emirati official said in an Arabic post on X.
“The [UAE] state rejects being drawn into any plan aimed to provide cover for the Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip,” he added.
The UAE became the first Gulf state to establish diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020. But the wealthy country has repeatedly criticized Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier this week, the UAE condemned Israel’s control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing, an operation that has halted humanitarian aid deliveries via the facility into the heavily populated strip.
Israel has been bombarding Gaza for months, since Hamas militants launched unprecedented bloody attacks on Israel in October last year that included civilian massacres.