Israel Denies Closure of Rabat Liaison Office, Affirms Strong Morocco Relations

On Thursday, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to evacuate its staff from the liaison office in Rabat and Cairo for security reasons. This measure would have effectively led to the temporary closure of its diplomatic representation. Information denied by Lior Ben Dor, spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Relations with Morocco are strong and solid and we have not closed our liaison office in Rabat," he told Morocco World News, without however providing further information on the evacuation of the liaison office staff. The staff of the Rabat liaison office returned to Israel by plane from Rabat-Salé International Airport, adds the Moroccan site. For now, the Moroccan liaison office in Tel Aviv is operating normally.

Since the surprise and spectacular attack by Hamas and Israel’s retaliation, Moroccans have demonstrated for Palestine. On Sunday, thousands of Moroccans gathered in front of the Parliament in Rabat, where a national march turned into a popular referendum, reported the AP agency. "Are you in favor of normalization with Israel?" "No," the demonstrators replied, calling on the Moroccan government to backtrack on the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries. On Tuesday, spontaneous demonstrations were organized in several Moroccan cities.

The protesters condemned the deadly missile strike on the Gaza hospital that had killed around 500 Palestinian patients and displaced Palestinians and called for an end to the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians. In the evening, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement strongly condemning this brutal attack and just as firmly denouncing the incessant raids by the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip. Morocco has also demanded the protection of civilians and called on the international community to unite to end the violence.

Faced with the increased threat of terrorist attacks amid widespread outrage over this deadly strike, the Israeli National Security Council has advised its citizens to leave Turkey immediately and its tourists in Morocco to be extra cautious. It has raised the alert level in Turkey to 4, its highest level of its alert system (travel prohibited, please leave the country immediately), and in Morocco to threat level 2 (take basic precautions).