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The comments came as Israel’s Mossad chief visited Doha and met with Hamas officials and also met CIA director William Burns and the Qatari PM.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said peace deals will be signed with more Arab countries once Israel’s war against Hamas and Hezbollah is complete. (IMAGE: REUTERS)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he hopes to reach peace deals with more Arab countries once the war against Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah is complete.
His message calling for normalcy in West Asia comes after his office said that Israeli spy agency Mossad’s director David Barnea returned on Monday from Doha, where he held a meeting with CIA director William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. Barnea went to Doha to participate in the restarted truce talks.
“The sides discussed a new unified framework that integrates previous proposals and also takes into account the main issues and recent developments in the region. The discussions between the mediators and Hamas will continue in the coming days in order to evaluate the feasibility of talks and the continued effort to advance a deal,” his office said.
However, Netanyahu said that relations with Arab countries will stabilise only after Hamas and Hezbollah end controlling Gaza and Hezbollah respectively.
“The day after Hamas no longer controls Gaza and Hezbollah no longer sits on our northern border, we are working these days on plans to stabilize those two fronts. But the day after includes something else of utmost importance,” Netanyahu said in a speech to parliament.
“I aspire to continue the process I led a few years ago of the signing of the historic Abraham Accords, and achieve peace with more Arab countries,” he said.
Israel, under the US-brokered 2020 accords, normalized relations with four Arab countries – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Since then, Israel, with US support, has sought to also include other nations, particularly Saudi Arabia. Riyadh says it will not recognise Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
“These countries, and other countries, see clearly the blows we are landing on those who attack us, the Iranian axis of evil,” he said. “They aspire, like us, for a stable, secure and prosperous Middle East.”
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Tel Aviv, Israel