Several weeks ago, the Israeli prime minister asked the UAE leader to pay unemployment benefits to Palestinian workers from the West Bank, whom Israel had banned from entering its territory following the October 7 attack by Hamas, the news portal reported.
"Ask Zelensky for money," the UAE president was quoted as saying to Netanyahu by one of Axios' sources.
"The notion that Arab countries will come in to rebuild and pay the bill for what's currently happening is wishful thinking," an unnamed UAE official told Axios.
On October 7, 2023, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip, while its fighters breached the border, opening fire on the military and civilians. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza and launched a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 23,000 people have been killed so far in Gaza as a result of Israeli strikes, local authorities said.
On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1.