Israeli-Gulf relations

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) poses beside Khalid Mashaal (C), the Hamas chief in exile, and Gaza's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh prior to their meeting in Ankara on June 18, 2013. Senior leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas met today in Ankara with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to discuss Erdogan's planned visit to the Gaza Strip as well as the situation in Syria, the source said on condition of anonymity. AFP PHOTO/ PRIME MINISTER PRESS OFFICE/ YASIN BULBUL == RESTRICTED T

Analysis

Will Turkey host Hamas leaders after consequential Qatar departure?

Pro-Muslim Brotherhood groups and leaders in Turkey enjoyed few restrictions on their activities in the past but are now seeing their activities curtailed.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 20: President Donald Trump (R) holds up a chart of military hardware sales as he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office at the White House on March 20, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

Analysis

Saudi Arabia to pursue two-track approach for Trump presidency

Riyadh is likely to compartmentalize business dealings with incoming President Donald Trump separately from its foreign policy engagements, where there is likely to be disagreement.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

After UAE visit, Qatari PM holds talks in Iran as Hamas officials depart Doha

A Gulf political official told Al-Monitor on Wednesday that the Qatari prime minister's visit to the UAE is designed to communicate Doha's new policy toward Hamas, where it seeks to be more in alignment with them regarding the group.

Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi (C), Director the Security Agency Ronen Bar (C-R) and Israel's Chief of the Mossad David Barnea (R).

Shin Bet chief discusses Gaza truce in Turkey: What we know

The Israeli official's travel to Turkey marks a dramatic development considering that Ankara has not played a part in these negotiations over the past year and Israel-Turkey relations have significantly deteriorated amid the Gaza war.

Latest News

MBS condemns Israel's 'genocide' in Gaza as Saudi frustrations mount

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives to attend a EU - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Brussels on October 16, 2024. Avoiding a "general conflagration" in the Middle East will be top of the agenda when European Union and leaders of countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which brings together Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, meet in Brussels on October 16, 2024. (Photo by JOHANNA GERON / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JOHANNA GERON/POOL/AFP via Get

Analysis

Beyond congratulations, Trump faces changed, eastward-looking Gulf

US President Donald Trump (L) speaks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd R) and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May smile during a family photo session at the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. (Photo by KIM KYUNG-HOON / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read KIM KYUNG-HOON/AFP via Getty Images)

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Sign up to our Daily Briefing

Keep up with Al-Monitor's top stories with a morning digest from across the region.

Saudi-Israel normalization 'off table' until Palestinian statehood, FM says

Saudi Arabian Minister for Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud arrives at the BRICS summit in Kazan on October 24, 2024. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

As response looms, US tries to dissuade Israel from catastrophic attack on Iran

Italian F35 fighter jets take part in the "Blue Flag" multinational air defence exercise at the Ovda air force base, north of the Israeli city of Eilat, on November 11, 2019. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Israel opens embassy in Abu Dhabi

Ambassador Eytan Na’eh arrived yesterday to Abu Dhabi, officially opening Israel’s first embassy to the United Arab Emirates.

BERLIN, GERMANY - OCTOBER 6: UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi greet as they visit the Holocaust memorial together with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas prior to their historic meeting on October 6, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. The foreign ministers of Israel and the United Arab Emirates visited the Holocaust Memorial during their first meeting since their countries signed a US-brokered deal to normalize relations. (Photo by Michele Tantussi-P

Israel, Qatar in contact over Gaza as Bibi plans Gulf trip

According to reports, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi has been in contact over the phone with his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, mostly over financial aid to the Gaza Strip.

Trump orders US Central Command to include Israel amid strategic shift

The decision caps the outgoing administration's efforts to build a regional defense arrangement to counter Iran.

Foreign Ministers of (L to R) Germany Heiko Maas, Jordan Ayman Safadi, Egypt Sameh Shoukry, and France Jean-Yves Le Drian, hold a joint press conference after a meeting to discuss the Middle East peace process, in the Egyptian capital Cairo, on January 11, 2021. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel turns its back on French-Egyptian Mideast initiative

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi rejected the invitation for meeting French, German, Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers in Cairo, citing the nationwide lockdown in Israel as an excuse.

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on October 23, 2020 shows (L to R) an Israeli flag during a rally in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on September 19, 2020; and a Sudanese flag during a gathering east of the capital Khartoum on June 3, 2020. - Sudan and Israel agreed on Otober 23 to normalise relations, in a US-brokered deal to end decades of hostility that was widely welcomed but stirred Palestinian anger. The announcement makes Sudan, technically at war with Israel since its 1948 foundation, the

With Sudan signing Abraham Accords, Israel tightens grip in Africa, Red Sea basin

With Sudan signing today the Abraham accords for renewal of diplomatic ties, Israel is sending feelers also to other Red Sea basin countries for establishing some sorts of relations.

Was UAE behind Israeli decision to allow Palestinian farmers access to Jordan Valley?

For the first time in 46 years, Israel allowed Palestinians to enter al-Qa'oun valley in the northern Jordan Valley to cultivate their land. Despite the Palestinian Authority’s statement that this was in implementation of a judicial decision, Al-Monitor received information about Emirati-Israeli understandings that led to this action.

United Arab Emirates

With Morocco-Israel deal, US looks to maintain role in peace accords

For the Trump administration, the renewal of ties between Israel and Morocco is first and foremost a reason to auto-congratulate and make speeches.

UAE steps up medical aid to Gaza

The UAE and Qatar are neck and neck in the Gaza Strip, with both parties pumping money and aid into the besieged enclave that is struggling under tough economic, humanitarian and health conditions made worse by the coronavirus.

The El Al Boeing 737 aircraft carrying the Israeli delegation lands at the Bahrain International Airport on October 18, 2020, to formalise US-brokered normalisation deal between the two states. - Israel and Bahrain will officially establish diplomatic relations at a ceremony in Manama, an Israeli official said, after the two states reached a US-brokered normalisation deal last month. (Photo by Mazen Mahdi / AFP) (Photo by MAZEN MAHDI/AFP via Getty Images)

El Al to make first flight from Israel to Morocco

The Israeli airline will take a US-Israeli delegation from Tel Aviv to Rabat following Israel and Morocco agreeing to establish relations.

UAE joins Egypt-led Eastern Med Gas Forum

Abu Dhabi announced that it has joined the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum based in Cairo, as part of efforts to counter Turkey’s ambitions in the area.

Palestinians intensify efforts, action to counter UAE trade deals with Israeli settlements

Palestinians seek to launch international campaigns to boycott Emirati companies that deal with products from settlements built on occupied land in the West Bank, accusing them of violating international resolutions that criminalize settlements.

US treasury secretary to tour Middle East in final push for Abraham Accords

Steven Mnuchin plans to stop in Israel, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Qatar.

United Arab Emirates