The secretary-general of Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah condemned the deal on Friday, saying that certain Arab regimes heed US diktats to normalize ties with the Israeli regime, calling for the termination of such ties, which he said would end in failure if kept in place, Tasnim News Agency reported.

“We weren’t surprised by the UAE’s decision, as various forms of Israeli-UAE normalization and cooperation were already underway for a long time,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said, adding, “Trump has already milked the Persian Gulf states financially, religiously and morally just to serve his friend, (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu.”

The deal between the UAE and Israel was announced on Thursday. US President Donald Trump, who apparently helped broker the deal, has attempted to paint it as a big breakthrough.

But the Palestinians have utterly rejected the deal.

‘Aggression’ against Palestinians

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas referred to the deal as an “aggression” against the Palestinian people and a “betrayal” of their cause. The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas described it as “a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause.” And Palestinian people staged protests against the deal in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip on Friday.

The Emirates is now the third Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan, to normalize with Israel. Abu Dhabi was already believed to have clandestine relations with Tel Aviv, according to Press TV.

Turkey’s threat

Ankara also condemned the deal as an act of treachery.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan harshly criticized the UAE for its deal with Israel, saying he is considering breaking off all diplomatic ties with the UAE.

Erdogan’s criticism came as most Arab nations have historically refrained from maintaining formal diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv in protest against its occupation of Palestine, Aljazeera reported.

Turkey said history and the collective conscience of people in the Middle East will not forget and never forgive the “hypocritical behavior” of the UAE in agreeing to normalize ties with Israel.

Israel and the UAE reached an agreement – brokered by the United States – to work towards a “full normalization of relations” – a deal the Palestinians called a “treacherous stab in the back”.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday the Palestinian people and administration were right to react strongly against the deal.

“The UAE, which is pursuing secret ambitions over a US plan that is stillborn, null and void, ignores the willpower of Palestine,” said a ministry statement.

Turkey expressed serious concern over the UAE’s aim to unilaterally abolish the 2002 Arab Peace Plan, which envisioned a normalization of relations between the Arab world and Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal by Israel from the occupied Palestinian territories.

“With that being the case, there is no credibility in presenting the trilateral declaration (between the US, UAE, and Israel) as a support to the Palestinian cause.”

The UAE administration “has no authority to negotiate with Israel on behalf of Palestine without consent from its people and administration regarding vital matters”, the ministry said.

“Neither history nor the collective conscience of the region will ever forget and forgive the hypocritical behavior of the UAE, which is trying to depict the deal as a sacrifice for Palestine when in reality it is a betrayal to the Palestinian cause for its own narrow interests.”

Under the UAE-Israel agreement, Israel said it agreed to “delay” the annexation of Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank, but the plan “remains on the table”.

The surprise deal was the product of lengthy discussions between Israel, the UAE, and the US that accelerated recently, the White House said.

‘Great betrayal’

Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement has also decried the deal as a “great betrayal” of the Palestinian cause.

In a statement issued on Friday, Ansarullah’s political bureau said the exposure of the UAE-Israel relations proved the emptiness of all the pan-Arabist slogans raised by the Saudi-led coalition in waging war on Yemen, Press TV reported.

The statement added that the UAE was continuing to move forward on the wrong path of serving American and Israeli interests against the Muslim Ummah, referring to the Emirates’ participation in the Saudi-led war on Yemen, which began in March 2015 and has left tens of thousands of people killed.

Ansarullah dismissed assertions that normalization with the Israeli regime would lead to the establishment of peace and stability in the region as “mere delusions.”

It also called for isolating any regime that announces normalization with Israel and boycotting it economically and commercially, stressing that Arab and Muslim peoples were able to do a lot to help Palestine.

Jordan’s stance

Jordan said the outcome of the agreement would depend on Israel’s actions, including its stance on “a two-state solution” with the Palestinians, AFP reported.

Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi said: “the impact of the deal on peace efforts is linked to the actions Israel will take”.

Saudi Arabia, a close US ally, has remained eerily quiet on news of the accord.