Leaked document allegedly reveals UAE plans to help Israel fight against Hamas through military bases across Red Sea region

Following Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion and massacre in Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) established a plan to support Israel with military equipment through its army bases in the Red Sea region, according to an alleged official Emirati document leaked by the website “Emirates Leaks” earlier this week. 

The document has received widespread negative coverage on anti-Israeli and anti-UAE sites for its strongly sympathetic tone toward Israel, which it refers to – echoing the language Arab states often use in public statements about one another – as “the sister state of Israel.”

The UAE has become Israel’s largest Arab trade partner and hasn’t questioned the 2020 Abraham Accords peace agreement despite criticizing Israel for its policy in Gaza, though notably less than most other Arab states. Israel’s recent recognition of Somaliland was reportedly closely coordinated with the UAE, which is the largest backer of the fledgling country. 

The document also notes, “The United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel are linked by close cultural, diplomatic, economic, and security relations, and these relations have intensified since the historic agreement of 2020.” 

The document's authenticity has not been independently confirmed, but was allegedly created in October 2023, after the “terrorists in Palestine” began attacking Israel, as one section put it.  

It is addressed to the Joint Operations Command of the UAE Forces and details an effort to probe the UAE’s ability to assist Israel through the use of its military bases in the Red Sea, including al-Mocha in western Yemen, Massawa and Assab in Eritrea, and Berbera and Bassa in Somalia. 

The plan calls to “strengthen Israel in its war on the terrorists in Palestine,” and for that support to continue “until the terrorists are defeated.” 

“Swift preparations and readiness were undertaken to provide our military bases in the southern Red Sea, especially in Yemen, with everything necessary to support the State of Israel,” the document states. 

The plan also details visits made by Emirati generals to inspect the preparations at various bases. For example, it states that an Emirati brigadier-general visited the base in Mocha to meet with a senior leader of a Yemeni group fighting against the Houthis in order to establish direct contact with Israel. 

However, some of the details raised questions about the authenticity of the document, as it states that a decision was made to prepare “all light and medium weapons” for transfer to Israel.

Later, UAE generals allegedly transferred 27 modern tanks to Israel, along with phosphorus missiles from the Assab base in Eritrea.

It is highly unlikely that the IDF required light weapons – much less tanks – from the UAE, while phosphorus projectiles are reportedly illegal to use in warfare, and Israel has been repeatedly criticized for using them to expose hidden Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

The UAE also decided to allocate “all sites on Dahlak Island and the Dahlak Archipelago for the purpose of supplying Israel,” according to the document. 

Another section of the document states that the UAE conducted “extensive investigations” of the massive support provided by Qatar to Hamas, while negatively highlighting Kuwait’s “massive financial support to fighting groups in Palestine” as well as efforts to hamper Emirati operations to help Israel. 

Despite the unconfirmed authenticity, the document – and its wide reception in anti-Israel and anti-UAE media and outlets across the Arab world – sheds light on the broader propaganda effort against Israel, as well as the UAE’s military network. 

Since 2015, the UAE has reportedly established military installations in Yemen, Chad, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, as well as Somalia and its separatist regions – Somaliland and Puntland. 

Some of the installations have reportedly been used to provide Israel with early warning intelligence on missile and drone launches by the Houthis in Yemen. 

However, the UAE recently ended its military presence in Yemen – including the islands of the Socotra Archipelago – under heavy Saudi Arabian pressure.