Telephone service begins between UAE, Israel amid deal

Telephone service between the United Arab Emirates and Israel has begun as the two countries open diplomatic ties.

Associated Press journalists in Jerusalem and Dubai were able to call each other from both landline and cellular phones on Sunday.

Officials in Israel and the UAE did not immediately acknowledge the lines had begun working.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced Thursday they are establishing full diplomatic relations in a US-brokered deal that required Israel to halt its contentious plan to annex occupied West Bank land sought by the Palestinians.

The historic deal delivered a key foreign policy victory to President Donald Trump as he seeks re-election and reflected a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about archenemy Iran have largely overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians.