Israel has recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
The ministry said on Twitter that Israel has decided to “recognize the sovereignty of Morocco over the lands of Western Sahara.”
Western Sahara was a Spanish colony until the mid-1970s. A 1991 cease-fire agreement saw Rabat lay claim to 80% of Western Sahara, with the rest being held by the Algiers-backed Polisario movement.
Algeria has opposed its neighbor laying claim to Western Sahara and has supported its independence from Morocco. While Morocco has offered some limited autonomy, it has affirmed that the territory must remain under its sovereignty. The Polisario Movement, on the other hand, demands an independence referendum.
The move follows Morocco and Israel agreeing to establish full diplomatic relations in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords. At the time, the United States agreed to recognize Western Sahara as Moroccan territory as part of the normalization agreement.
Under international law, however, the territory is still considered to be illegally occupied by Morocco.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
