DUBAI, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash slammed on Thursday Qatar for "secret contacts with Israel."
Gargash made the remarks on Twitter, saying Qatar is reaching out to Israel while blaming its neighbors in doing so.
Gargash tweeted that "there is documented evidence that Doha has been in direct contact with officials in Tel Aviv on the topic of Gaza."
Gargash was referring to reports by Israeli news outlet Walla News from Wednesday saying that Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman secretly met with Qatar's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in Cyprus in late June this year.
On June 5, 2017, the UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, severed its diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar, accusing Qatar of sponsoring "terrorism" and of aligning with non-Arab Gulf state Iran.
Qatar, which denied all charges, was isolated by scores of Arab and Islamic countries following the Arab quartet, and has upgraded relations with Iran and Turkey to mitigate the lost.
Gargash called the alleged Israeli-Qatari contacts a "mutually beneficial relationship between the small node and greed to power," saying it is "far from principles and positions."
