Jerusalem: Israel on Tuesday offered “sincere condolences” to the government and people of India as it condemned the drone attack in Abu Dhabi while offering “security and intelligence” support to the UAE to “defeat our common enemies”.
On Monday, two Indians and a Pakistani national, all staff of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), were killed and six others injured in the suspected drone attacks near the Abu Dhabi airport that sparked multiple explosions in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The attacks were claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Lior Haiat, the spokesperson of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, took to Twitter to regret the loss of innocent lives in the attack. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns the terrorist attacks on Abu Dhabi and regrets the loss of innocent life. We send our sincere condolences to the government and people of India as well as to the families of the victims, he said in a tweet. Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, in a tweet on Monday, condemned the attacks, calling upon the world to “stand against terror”.
“I strongly condemn the terrorist attacks in Abu Dhabi carried out by the Iranian-backed Houthis and send condolences to the families of the innocent victims. “Israel stands with the UAE. I stand with Mohammed bin Zayed. The world should stand against terror,” he said.
In a letter sent to Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, posted on his twitter handle, Bennett expressed “heartfelt condolences” over the losses and extended Israel’s “commitment to working closely with you in the ongoing battle against extremist forces in the region”.
We will continue to partner with you to defeat our common enemies. We stand ready to offer you security and intelligence support in order to help you protect your citizens from similar attacks,” the Prime Minister said. “I have ordered the Israeli security establishment to provide our counterparts in the UAE with any assistance, should you be interested,” he added.
In September 2020, Israel and the UAE normalised their relations in a US-brokered agreement with the Emirates becoming the first Gulf country to establish formal ties with the Jewish state, and the third Arab country ever to do so after Egypt and Jordan in 1979 and 1994, respectively.
Last month, in a historic visit, Israel’s Prime Minister Bennett visited the UAE and met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Zayed Al Nahyan. Monday’s suspected Houthi drone attacks near the Abu Dhabi airport were caused by “small flying objects”, possibly drones, that hit three petroleum tankers in Abu Dhabi.
The terrorist attacks sparked global condemnation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling Zayed Al Nahyan to affirm America’s condemnation and denunciation of the terrorist attack of the terrorist Houthi militia on civil areas and facilities in the UAE.
A statement from the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said that the UAE reserves the right to respond to these terrorist attacks and criminal escalation. Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed said that the drone attacks, which struck ADNOC fuel facilities and the airport, will not go unpunished. The UAE has been part of a Saudi-led military campaign against the Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015.
