Shortly after Donald Trump announced he had brokered a “huge breakthrough” deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, the White House published a list of bullet points detailing what it had achieved.

Only at the bottom, just after “expanded business and financial ties between these two thriving economies”, did the very last sentence blandly mention what had previously been the key regional issue: the fate of the Palestinians.

For decades, Israel’s relationship with its neighbours has been defined by its protracted occupation. The broadly accepted logic was that the only path to true peace with other countries in the Middle East was for Israel to end its trampling on Palestinian rights.

Shattering that assumption, the UAE established diplomatic ties with Israel on Thursday with almost no concessions for the Palestinians.

“What does it mean for the UAE to reconcile with Israel in light of the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank? I don’t know what that means in helping us,” said Sherine Abu Qamar, a 32-year-old full-time mother living in Gaza.

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