A high-level meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Arab officials last month descended into chaos after a heated exchange between the UAE foreign minister and a senior adviser to the Palestinian president, according to Axios, citing sources familiar with the incident.

The April 29 meeting in Riyadh aimed to discuss a joint post-war strategy for Gaza, but tensions boiled over when Palestinian minister Hussein al-Sheikh expressed frustration over the lack of support for Palestinian Authority reforms. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed responded by questioning the effectiveness of these reforms and labeling the Palestinian leadership “Ali Baba and the forty thieves.”

Al-Sheikh pushed back, refusing to accept external dictates on Palestinian reforms. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud attempted to calm the situation, but the meeting deteriorated into shouting, prompting the Emirati minister to temporarily walk out. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi eventually coaxed the Emirati minister back, who apologized for the outburst.

Notably, the ongoing rift between Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been exacerbated by the UAE’s normalization of relations with Israel in 2020, which the Palestinians saw as a betrayal.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)