Israel comes to an agreement with the United Arab Emirates

Israel and the UAE came to an agreement which was deemed historic, towards the normalization of bilateral relations. This development comes with a few concessions by Israel, who in return will put the annexation of areas of the West Bank on hold. This event follows a mellowing of discourses towards Israel, by various Arab leaders in the region, especially in Saudi Arabia, although it isn’t seen favorably by their respective populations in general.

After the agreement, Palestine recalled its ambassador from the UAE, with Turkey possibly following suit, which itself is already involved in several conflicts with other states in the region, and whose positions collide with them on many geopolitical respects.

Tensions in the Mediterranean

This week has turned out particularly turbulent in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially taking into account the recent developments in Lebanon, which led the government to prolong the state of emergency for two weeks.

The Turkish vessel Oruç Reis started surveying for energy resources in contested waters, something which led Greece to respond with warnings. This is an escalation in tensions which has been getting attention in the international agenda in the past few months, sometimes including the Cyprus question, whose resolution remains seemingly far away. The French president, who was recently in the region, sent two Rafale fighters, aiming to ease the tensions.

This is a development which showcases the existence of some regional competition between Turkey and France, who already have some overlapping interests in their respective spheres of influence, namely in Libya and in the Levant. A naval incident already took place in July, and both Turkey and France have shown their skepticism towards NATO recently.

Greek media outlets also report a collision between a Greek and a Turkish military vessel, stating that the resulting damage was minimal.

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