Paris [France], August 14 (Sputnik/ANI): France on Thursday welcomed the Israeli-UAE agreement on normalising relations and deemed Israel's decision on suspending the annexation of the Palestinian territories as a "positive step".

"France welcomes the announcement of normalizing the relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which are important regional partners for us. The decision made amid this context by the Israeli authorities on suspending the annexation of the Palestinian territories is a positive step, which must become a final measure," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on late Thursday.

Also Read | Odisha: School and Mass Education Department Issues Guidelines for Independence Day 2020 Celebration in Schools: Live Breaking News Headlines & Coronavirus Updates on August 13, 2020.

The minister expressed hope that the Israeli-UAE agreement would also boost the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on a two-state solution, which is "the only way to reach fair and stable peace in the region."

On Thursday, Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to normalise their relations, and an agreement on the mutual establishment of embassies is expected to follow in the coming three weeks. In exchange, Israel said it would halt its plans to formally annex parts of the West Bank.

Also Read | US Justice Department Seizes Millions in Cryptocurrency From al-Qassam Brigades, al-Qaeda and ISIS Terrorist Organisations.

Both ruling Palestinian movements, Fatah and Hamas, have already denounced the agreement. (Sputnik/ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)