Israel-Hamas war: UAE shows diplomatic sway with Gaza as tensions escalate

By Abeer Abu Omar
 

A slice of Abu Dhabi has come to El-Arish, a small city in Northern Sinai about 50 kilometers from Gaza. Once rarely visited by outsiders, the coastal spot now teems with Emirati volunteers wearing cargo pants and beige vests adorned with the flag of the United Arab Emirates.
 

They’ve joined UAE government officials, Red Crescent workers and hospital staff in the Egyptian area just outside the strip, part of a humanitarian effort to help more than two million people whose lives have been devastated by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. 

Since the start of the conflict almost ten months ago, aid efforts by the UAE in El-Arish and the Palestinian territory have cost the UAE around $700 million, Sultan Mohammed Al Shamsi, one of the Emirati officials overseeing the operations, told Bloomberg in early July.

That includes the setting up of a field hospital in the southern Gaza city of Rafah that’s treated close to 50,000 people, according to its staff, and a second makeshift medical facility on a ship anchored close by on the Mediterranean Sea. 

The UAE effort is a testament to the growing regional sway of the Gulf nation, which has forged ties with Israel and strengthened its bond with Egypt in recent years — including via a $35 billion investment to help unlock an International Monetary Fund rescue. 

The country is using those relationships, and its trillions of petrodollars, to play a leading role in diplomatic and aid efforts in the conflict and has indicated a willingness to help prepare for a postwar scenario — including by sending security forces into Gaza. That said, its influence only goes so far — as the war shows no sign of ending and the Israeli leadership have paid little heed to international calls for a cease-fire.  

The UAE could “consider taking part in a temporary stabilisation mission following a formal invitation from a reformed Palestinian Authority,” said Reem Al Hashimy, minister of state for international cooperation, referring to the administration that rules parts of the West Bank and controlled Gaza before Hamas took over in 2007.

Part of the UAE’s motivation could be “to make itself an important diplomatic intermediary that can deal with both Israel and Egypt in a way few other countries can,” said Steffen Hertog, an associate professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “The UAE is also under some pressure to have a positive impact on Palestine given how much flak they are getting in the Arab public sphere” for establishing ties with Israel, he said.

The initiative follows other international interventions by the UAE, including the brokering of a Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap deal in June.

Desalination plants

The UAE operates about half a dozen water desalination plants in El-Arish, producing more than a million gallons a day for the Gazan people, while multiple warehouses holding food, medicine and clothes have been built on the Egyptian side of the border. Funding has been provided for air drops costing as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars per tonne, according to Al Shamsi, who is assistant minister of foreign affairs for development affairs and international organisations.

Yet despite the efforts from the UAE and others, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening, he said. With no access through land routes including the Rafah Border Crossing into Sinai — closed since Israel took control of it in May —  aid groups have been forced to rely mainly on air drops, which need the Israeli government’s approval. 

“By sea, land and through 300 flights, we have provided nearly 40,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid to secure the urgent needs of the Palestinians,” Al Hashimy told Bloomberg.

Some Emirati military planes stationed at El-Arish’s airport can hold tonnes of food and medical supplies. They’ve recently carried packages to the north of Gaza, the area most impacted by Israel’s air and ground campaign, Al-Shamsi said.

“The nature of food insecurity across the entire Gaza Strip is unprecedented in this century,” the Center For Strategic and International studies said in research published in April. About 90 per cent of people in the densely populated strip have fled their homes and lack access to sufficient shelter, food, medical services and clean water, according to the United Nations.

For Duaa’, a mother of five from Gaza, arriving at the UAE’s makeshift hospital with her children about three months ago provided her with shelter after months of constant bombardment. She’s been waiting for a transfer to the Gulf country to get a prosthetic limb after having her right leg amputated. 

“I haven’t seen my husband in months — he’s in an Egyptian hospital but his case was too critical to be moved here,” she told Bloomberg. “This situation is harder than anyone can imagine.”

The UAE’s Al Hashimy said a cease-fire and the release of all hostages and detainees held by Hamas is urgently needed to halt escalation in the region. There’s “an unprecedented state of instability,” she said.

Cease-fire talks 
 

Talks for an Israel-Hamas cease-fire brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt have gone nowhere for months — and look harder than ever to resolve after the political head of Hamas was assassinated in Tehran last week. Israel and Hamas blamed Israel and vowed to retaliate. The Israeli government has neither confirmed nor denied being responsible.

Israel has vowed to kill all leaders of Hamas since the start of the war in October, when the group — designated a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union — invaded the south of the country, killing about 1,200 people. More than 39,000 Palestinians have died in Israel’s subsequent military campaign, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

The UAE initiated diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, a series of agreements brokered by former US President Donald Trump’s administration that established relations between the Jewish state and other Arab nations including Bahrain.

The objective of the deal was to promote economic cooperation between the two sides and reduce regional and security tensions. The results have been mixed. The UAE has maintained dialog with Israel throughout the war with Hamas, while being unable to rein in the country’s military aggression. 

At the same time, it’s under pressure from other Arab countries for maintaining ties as the bombardment of Palestinians goes on.

Abu Dhabi’s position on normalization with Israel hasn’t changed, according to a person familiar with the government’s thinking, who isn’t authorized to speak publicly. The UAE believes that having diplomatic relations has enabled the nation to get aid inside Gaza and hold talks with the government, the person said. 

The UAE’s investment in Egypt — which helped stave off an economic crisis — was seen by many as a signal of intent by Abu Dhabi that it’s serious about jockeying for influence with rival petroleum-rich Gulf powers including Saudi Arabia and Qatar. And the particular focus on humanitarian efforts in Gaza likely puts the UAE in the good graces of the US, LSE’s Hertog said.