The Times of Israel newspaper said that Prime Minister Netanyahu pressured UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed so that Abu Dhabi would pay the salaries of Palestinian workers who were prevented by Tel Aviv from returning to their jobs.

The newspaper reported, quoting an Israeli official, that Bin Zayed rejected the idea completely and was shocked by the audacity of the request put forward by Netanyahu.

The Times of Israel reported that what the Israeli official said confirms the details of the report published by the Axios website.

The Israeli official explained that Netanyahu spoke with the Emirati president several times since October 7.

The newspaper noted that a senior Emirati official warned that the long war in Gaza risks turning Abu Dhabi's emerging relations with Israel into a "cold peace."

The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, said in a statement to The Times of Israel: “The longer this war lasts, Israel becomes more isolated, and even a warm peace could eventually turn into a cold peace.”

The newspaper reported that this warning is the most stringent that Israel has received since the outbreak of the war from its partners in the “Abraham Accords”, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, who normalized relations with Israel about four years ago.

The Times of Israel reported that the statements indicate that the UAE is not considering severing its relations with Israel, but that these relations may become similar to those that link Israel with Egypt and Jordan.

High-level government relations declined after the formation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line government in December 2022 and have almost stopped since the war, noting that Israel continues to operate its embassy in Abu Dhabi, but there has been a decline in public events and meetings.

The Israeli army announced today, Saturday, that the number of wounded among its soldiers has risen to 2,757 people since October 7, 2023, while Israeli information and global military estimates indicate that the number of wounded Israeli soldiers is greater than the officially announced numbers.

The Israeli army also confirmed the killing of 557 officers and soldiers since October 7, 2023.

On the Palestinian side, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the death toll from the Israeli bombing of the Strip had risen to 26,257 martyrs and 64,797 wounded since October 7.