As we’ve been reporting, US envoy Witkoff just said a new country would join the Abraham Accords, just weeks into the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The Abraham Accords are a series of US-brokered agreements that normalised ties between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority countries.
They were first signed in September 2020 at the White House between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, during Trump’s first presidential term. Morocco and Sudan joined the accords in the following months.
The deals sought to open the door for trade, tourism, and security cooperation between the signatories, but drew sharp criticism from Palestinians who saw them as a betrayal of the long-held Arab position that recognition of Israel should come only after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Washington has since pushed to expand the accords to other countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, as part of a wider effort to reshape alliances.
But several new factors have come into play since the accords were first signed, notably Israel’s two-year genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza and its intensified assault on the occupied West Bank, where de facto annexation is eroding any prospect of a viable Palestinian state.
Beyond Palestine, Israel has also bombed six countries in the region this year, including Qatar, a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Abraham Accords are a series of US-brokered agreements that normalised ties between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority countries.
They were first signed in September 2020 at the White House between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, during Trump’s first presidential term. Morocco and Sudan joined the accords in the following months.
The deals sought to open the door for trade, tourism, and security cooperation between the signatories, but drew sharp criticism from Palestinians who saw them as a betrayal of the long-held Arab position that recognition of Israel should come only after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Washington has since pushed to expand the accords to other countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, as part of a wider effort to reshape alliances.
But several new factors have come into play since the accords were first signed, notably Israel’s two-year genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza and its intensified assault on the occupied West Bank, where de facto annexation is eroding any prospect of a viable Palestinian state.
Beyond Palestine, Israel has also bombed six countries in the region this year, including Qatar, a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council.