GAZA (Dispatches) – The Palestinian
resistance movement Hamas has slammed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for allowing Zionist president Isaac Herzog to visit the Persian Gulf country as the occupying regime continues with its crimes against Palestinians.
The Zionist regime’s president started his first visit to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, the latest diplomatic trip since the two sides normalized ties.
In a statement, Hamas condemned the UAE for allowing such a visit, stressing once again its strong rejection of all forms of normalization with the occupying regime and its leaders.
Hamas, whose statement was carried by the Palestinian Information Center, said such a visit took place as the Zionist regime persistently violates the rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied East Al-Quds, the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian resistance movement also warned that the reception of Zionist leaders in Arab countries will encourage the regime to commit more crimes against Palestinians.
Herzog arrived around 0800 GMT in the UAE capital, where he met with Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
“Beginning the first visit by an Israeli president in the United Arab Emirates,” Herzog tweeted upon arrival. “We were delighted and deeply moved by the warm welcome in Abu Dhabi.”
The visit comes some 16 months after the Persian Gulf regime forged diplomatic ties with the occupying regime, becoming the third Arab country to do so after Egypt and Jordan.
Herzog also met with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the presidential palace, said the official Emirati news agency WAM.
The Zionist president claimed he was bringing a “message of peace to the entire region.”
Herzog’s UAE trip and his emphasis on “peace” come at a time when the UAE has ramped up its military involvement in the Saudi-led war on Yemen, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
The occupying regime recently announced that it would come to the aid of the UAE, supporting its military actions against Yemen. On January 18, the occupying regime offered security and espionage support to the UAE against retaliatory drone attacks from Yemen.
Since they reached the so-called Abraham Accords at the White House in August 2020, the Zionist regime and the UAE have signed a raft of deals in various areas, ranging from tourism to aviation and financial services.
Top Israeli authorities have already visited the UAE, but the regime’s prime minister Naftali Bennett was the most senior official who made the trip last month.
The regime opened its embassy in the Emirati capital in late June last year. Zionist foreign minister Yair Lapid inaugurated the occupying regime’s embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai during a two-day visit.
The UAE officially inaugurated its embassy in the occupied territories less than a month later.
Palestinians, who seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Al-Quds as its capital, view the normalization deals as a betrayal of their cause.