UAE Pressures Trump Administration to Undermine Gaza Peace Plan and Support Israel’s War Efforts

The Emirati regime has clearly bet on artificial intelligence to strengthen its ties with the Trump administration, through a massive $25 billion deal with Washington.

The deal comes amid growing Emirati rapprochement with Israel and pressure on the Trump administration to stall Gaza’s reconstruction and support the continuation of the genocidal war until the complete elimination of the Palestinian resistance.

UAE Pressures Trump to Reject Arab Gaza Plan

U.S. and Egyptian officials have revealed that the UAE is pressuring President Donald Trump’s administration to reject the post-war plan for the Gaza Strip, which was drafted by Egypt and approved by the Arab League.

According to the British website Middle East Eye, the UAE is exploiting its unprecedented influence over the White House under Trump to criticize the Arab plan as unworkable and to accuse Cairo of giving too much influence to the Palestinian group Hamas.

The site reports that the division is growing increasingly bitter, and U.S. diplomats fear it is harming American interests in the region. This reflects an intensifying Arab rivalry over who will take the lead in Gaza’s future governance and reconstruction, as well as differences in opinion over how much influence Hamas should retain there.

The Emirati pressure presents a dilemma for Cairo, as both the UAE and Egypt broadly support the same Palestinian decision-maker in Gaza: Mohammed Dahlan, the exiled former Fatah official.

A U.S. official stated, “The UAE may not be the only country that opposed the Arab League’s plan when it was agreed upon, but it is vehemently rejecting it in coordination with the Trump administration.”

A U.S. and an informed Egyptian official said that the influential Emirati ambassador to the U.S., Yousef Al Otaiba, has been pressuring Trump’s inner circle and American lawmakers to push Egypt to accept the forcibly displaced Palestinians.

Al Otaiba had previously stated that he saw “no alternative” to Trump’s earlier call this year for the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

Hamas is considered a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt and which the UAE has spent years trying to eliminate across the Middle East.

The Egyptian government, led by the military, also crushed the Muslim Brotherhood but has allowed Hamas officials some freedom of movement. Egyptian intelligence officials have longstanding ties with Hamas members, including the Qassam Brigades, which Egypt has used to broker ceasefires in Gaza.

The UAE criticized Egypt’s Gaza plan because it did not specifically outline how Hamas would be disarmed and removed from the territory.

Egyptian officials say the plan clearly states that the Palestinian Authority would take over governance. It calls for the formation of a security force in Gaza trained by Jordan and Egypt, and it leaves the door open for the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Hamas expressed acceptance of the plan, but regional diplomats say Israel opposes internationalizing the war in this way.

The U.S. brokered a ceasefire in Gaza in January, but it effectively collapsed with the resumption of Israeli military attacks on the Strip.

The U.S. proposed a deal to Hamas to release 27 living hostages in Gaza in exchange for extending the temporary truce. Hamas insisted on a permanent end to the war, as stipulated in the January ceasefire agreement.

The Trump administration has declared its support for Israel’s return to war in Gaza. American diplomacy took a hit after Adam Boehler, Trump’s former hostage affairs envoy, recently met directly with Hamas officials in Doha.

The White House said Boehler met with Hamas to negotiate the release of a single remaining American hostage, but Boehler publicly stated he discussed a potential five-to-ten-year truce with Hamas that would involve the group renouncing politics, and disarmament guaranteed by the U.S. and its Arab allies.

These remarks, along with Boehler telling CNN that he doesn’t rule out more meetings with Hamas, provoked outrage from the Israeli government and pro-Israel American lawmakers.

Egyptian and American officials said the meeting also angered the UAE. Trump’s senior advisors were hesitant about the Arab League’s post-war Gaza plan.

During his visit to the region last March, Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff did not endorse the plan but called it “a basis for reconstruction efforts.”

Some U.S. and Egyptian officials believe the UAE’s campaign has already impacted U.S.-Egypt bilateral relations. The U.S. has warned Egypt it may cut military aid in 2026, according to an Egyptian and a U.S. official.

The London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper was the first to report on U.S. warnings that the White House intends to reduce military aid to Egypt last week.

A U.S. official said Egypt has been informed that the U.S. is reassessing its military aid, but was not directly told that the future cuts are tied to Egypt accepting forcibly displaced Palestinians.

The Trump administration is reducing foreign aid globally. Egypt and Israel received exemptions from a 90-day freeze on U.S. foreign assistance. Other Arab countries like Lebanon have also recently received exemptions.

Egypt receives $1.3 billion annually in military aid. The U.S. has already made $300 million of that contingent on human rights issues.

U.S. influence over Egypt has declined since the 1979 peace treaty with Israel. At the time, American aid represented 6% of Egypt’s GDP. Today, that figure has fallen to less than 0.5%, and it’s unclear whether the Trump administration sees the aid as a worthwhile asset.

One complicating factor is that Egypt and the UAE both view Dahlan as an influential post-war intermediary in Gaza.

When the Arab League approved Egypt’s plan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a pardon for exiled former Fatah officials.

This was widely seen as a signal to Dahlan, who was Fatah’s enforcer in Gaza before Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections in 2006. Dahlan moved to the UAE after a falling out with Abbas in the occupied West Bank.

The UAE is pushing for Dahlan to oversee a ruling committee in Gaza, and eventually succeed the aging Abbas as president of the Palestinian Authority.

Complicating matters further, the Financial Times reported that the Trump administration continues to pressure Sudan and the unrecognized government of Somaliland to accept forcibly displaced Palestinians.

Peter Pham, the expected Trump pick for Africa affairs at the State Department, is a strong supporter of UAE and Somaliland independence.

The UAE is the main political force in Somaliland, where it trains security forces and controls the main port through its state-owned company, DP World.

The Trump administration’s dismissal of Egypt’s Gaza plan has infuriated career officials at the U.S. State Department, who have watched France, Germany, Italy, and the UK back the framework.

American diplomats say the White House is ignoring professional warnings not to pressure Egypt to accept forcibly displaced Palestinians.