Algeria warns of 'Israeli hegemony' over Africa thru Moroccan alliance

Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra has warned of the deterioration of relations between Algiers and Rabat amid the increasing military cooperation between Morocco and Israel.

“The Morocco-Israeli military alliance will affect whole of the North African region,” Lamamra said on Friday in a press statement on the sidelines of the 8th high-level symposium on peace and security organized by the African Union in Oran.

Lamamra said the normalization of ties with Israel is an “irresponsible” decision that sacrifices the people of the North African region and deprives them of their inalienable rights.

“The Moroccan authorities, in their alliance with the Zionist entity, are contributing to an unprecedented escalation of Israeli hegemony over the region. Every step taken by the Moroccan authorities in this malicious military alliance takes them away from Algeria and its people,” he added.

International advocacy bodies urge African Union to withdraw Israel’s observer status

On July 22, Israel announced it had joined the influential pan-African body, which debates continental issues, as an “observer state.”

Algeria has been one of the few Arab states to maintain a pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist stance and Lamamra has repeatedly said that Arab countries should support the Palestinian people instead of supporting Israel’s expansion in the region.

Earlier, the Algerian foreign minister had criticized African Union Commission head Moussa Faki Mahamat who insisted on granting Israel an observer status in the pan-African organization.

Moroccans take to streets, call for end to Rabat's normalization with Israel

Moroccans, including activists and ordinary people, take part in large-scale protests in the cities of Oujda, Berkane, Ben Slimane, Beni-Mellal and Oulad Teima on Monday.

Under the so-called Abraham Accords, Morocco became the fourth Arab country in 2020 to reach a normalization agreement with the Israeli regime after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan, in what has been strongly denounced by Palestinians as a “betrayal” of their cause.

Morocco’s decision to normalize ties with Israel came after former US President Donald Trump recognized the North African country’s “sovereignty” over Western Sahara, which has been at the center of a decades-old territorial row between Morocco and the Polisario Front.

The Algerian foreign ministry later rejected Trump’s stance, saying the US decision “has no legal effect because it contradicts UN resolutions, especially UN Security Council resolutions on Western Sahara.”

Israel considers selling Iron Dome missile system to Morocco for use against Algeria, says Report

The Tel Aviv regime has reportedly reached out to Morocco over the possibility of selling Iron Dome missile system, and Israel

Amid rising tensions between Algeria and Morocco, Israel's minister of military affairs Benny Gantz made an official visit to Rabat on November 24 and the two sides signed several security and military cooperation agreements, including for the purchase of the Iron Dome missile system.

One Israeli product, the NSO’s Pegasus spyware, has already made its way to Morocco, according to Amnesty International and Paris-based organization Forbidden Stories.

Algeria broke off diplomatic ties with Morocco on August 24, accusing it of “hostile actions” after months of heightened tensions between the two North African countries.

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