South Africa 'regrets' Palestine's exclusion from UAE-Israel peace deal

The agreement does not commit Israel to halting of plans to further extend Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian territories and its people

South Africa has voiced its concern over the normalisation of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), saying it is "regrettable" that it had been done without engaging the people of Palestine.

"Peace and stability in the Middle East, and particularly a sustainable solution regarding the plight of the Palestinian people, is of critical importance to South Africa," the country's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said in a statement on Friday.

Acknowledging that the UAE had the sovereign right to set its diplomatic relations with the government of Israel, the statement said it was regrettable that it had