Egypt’s Sisi welcomes UAE-Israel deal and halt to annexation

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi welcomed on Thursday an agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel on normalizing ties that includes an Israeli agreement to halt further annexation of Palestinian lands.

“I followed with interest and appreciation the joint statement between the United States, United Arab Emirates and Israel to halt the Israeli annexation of Palestinian lands and taking steps to bring peace in the Middle East,” Sisi said on Twitter.

“I value the efforts of those in charge of the deal to achieve prosperity and stability for our region.”

Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced an agreement on Thursday that will lead to a full normalization of diplomatic relations between the two states, a move that reshapes the order of Middle East politics from the Palestinian issue to Iran.

Under the accord, which US President Donald Trump helped broker, Israel has agreed to suspend annexing areas of the occupied West Bank as it had been planning to do, White House officials said.