Morocco agreed on Thursday to normalize relations with the Zionist regime if Israel in a deal brokered by the outgoing US President Donald Trump.

Iran PressAfrica: As part of the agreement, Trump agreed to recognize Morocco's sovereignty over the Western Sahara, where there has been a decades-old territorial dispute with Morocco pitted against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, a breakaway movement that seeks to establish an independent state in the territory.

The deal made Morocco the fourth Arab country to set aside hostilities with Israel in the past four months. The others were the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan.

The normalization of relations with Israel has met with widespread public opposition and condemnation within these Arab countries.

Trump sealed the agreement in a phone call with Morocco's King Mohammed VI today, a senior US official said.

Under the agreement, Morocco will establish full diplomatic relations and resume official contacts with Israel, grant overflights, and also direct flights to and from Israel for all Israelis.

A White House statement on the phone call between Trump and the king of Morocco said Trump "reaffirmed his support for Morocco's serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory."

"And as such the president recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory," the statement said.

Palestinians have been critical of the normalization deals, saying Arab countries have set back the cause of peace by abandoning a longstanding demand that Israel gives up land for a Palestinian state before it can receive recognition.

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