Renewed violence between Israelis and Palestinians poses a challenge to Arab countries that have normalised ties with Israel.

Morocco resumed diplomatic ties with Israel in late 2020 after a deal brokered by the Trump administration that also included Washington’s recognition of Rabat’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, a disputed territory where the Algeria-backed Polisario Front seeks to establish its own state.

“The general secretariat condemns the recent stand by the foreign minister in which he appears to be defending the Zionist entity … at a time the Israeli occupation continues its criminal aggression against our Palestinian brothers,” the PJD said in a statement last week.

The palace said that foreign policy was a prerogative of the king and it would not be “subject to blackmail”.

Since the resumption of ties, Morocco and Israel have signed cooperation agreements, including a defence pact.

Morocco’s official position regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been to support the two-state solution, with East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.