What you missed at the UN: UAE ambush, Abbas meets Livni, Sisi sets record

Donald Trump may have hogged the limelight at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), but there was other Middle East action to report from the sidelines.

UAE ambassador labelled 'war criminal'

Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the US, was called "a war criminal" by an activist and protestor in New York at an anti-Iran conference in the Westin Hotel; representatives of Saudi Arabia, the United States, Bahrain and the Israeli intelligence arm Mossad were also present.

Protestors against the Saudi-led war on Yemen ambushed Otaiba outside the event.

Video footage circulated on social media shows Otaiba walking to his car while an activist asks him: "Hey, why you are guys killing children in Yemen? You guys, are war criminals... End the war, make peace. This is what we want; we want peace."

Translation: Watch | The escape of Yousef Al-Otaiba the UAE ambassador in Washington from the questions of a Yemeni activist about killing children

Otaiba did not reply to the activist, who was pushed away by his entourage. The UAE is a significant partner in the Saudi-led coalition that has bombed civilian targets in Houthi rebel-held territories of Yemen since the war began in March 2015.

Representatives of the UAE and Saudi Arabia are scheduled to address the General Assembly session on Saturday.

Abbas and Livni meet

On Tuesday, Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, met with Tzipi Livni, Israeli opposition leader of the Kadima party.

Livni told Abbas that he must take action to "prevent a deterioration in the security situation" in Gaza, asking him to "return to dialogue with the US before the two-state solution disappears".

“You will cause sadness to generations if you continue to isolate yourselves, burn bridges and take unilateral steps against Israel,” Livni said. “Such steps could lead to a deterioration in the [occupied West Bank] territories, losing control, and ending the solution of two nation-states.”

The PA ceased direct talks with Washington after US President Donald Trump made a unilateral announcement to move the American embassy to Jerusalem in December.

Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are each due to address the General Assembly on Thursday.

Sisi sets a record

Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, Iran and Morocco all addressed the General Assembly on Tuesday

But Arab media also noted that with his speech during the afternoon session, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi became the first Egyptian president to attend the general assembly for five consecutive years in a row.

Sisi came to power in June 2013 after a successful military coup removed Egypt's elected president Mohamed Morsi from power.

During his speech, Sisi highlighted the dangers of a breakdown in the structure of nation states in Yemen and Libya among others, while also raising the failure to resolve the Palestine issue.

“We cannot talk about the peaceful settlement of disputes without citing the Palestinian cause,” he said, adding that it was the “perfect example” of the failure of international conflict resolution.

“I repeat here what I have said in previous years on this platform, the Arabs are still stretching out their hands in peace,” he said.