France welcomes Israeli-UAE agreement on normalising relations

France on Thursday welcomed the Israeli-UAE agreement on normalising relations and deemed Israel's decision on suspending the annexation of the Palestinian territories as a "positive step".

"France welcomes the announcement of normalizing the relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which are important regional partners for us. The decision made amid this context by the Israeli authorities on suspending the annexation of the Palestinian territories is a positive step, which must become a final measure," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on late Thursday.

The minister expressed hope that the Israeli-UAE agreement would also boost the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on a two-state solution, which is "the only way to reach fair and stable peace in the region."

On Thursday, Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to normalise their relations, and an agreement on the mutual establishment of embassies is expected to follow in the coming three weeks. In exchange, Israel said it would halt its plans to formally annex parts of the West Bank.

Both ruling Palestinian movements, Fatah and Hamas, have already denounced the agreement. 

-ANI

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