Silence over bombing of occupied territory puts UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan at odds with their populations
As Israel and Hamas have pressed closer to all-out war, a new battle for the narrative is being fought among Arab states. For the first time in the many clashes between the two foes, regional unity over who is to blame and what should be done to stop the fighting has splintered.
While some states with Muslim majorities, such as Turkey and Iran, have accused Israel of incitement at the al-Aqsa mosque and committing atrocities in Gaza, other countries that had followed suit during previous flare-ups have this time been more restrained.
The relative silence has been led by states that made peace with Israel in the last year of the Trump administration and are now standard bearers of the so-called Abraham Accords.
The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, which all recently normalised ties with Israel, now find themselves balancing their new relationships against citizens who have been vocal in their anger at Israel’s violence.
