Somalia and Comoros agreed to send top officials as observers to the Negev Forum meeting that brings together the U.S., Israel, Egypt, the U.A.E, Bahrain and Morocco, according to Axios news website.
Somalia and Comoros are Muslim-majority countries and do not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel. The move is seen a step forward in the normalization between Israel and the Arab World.
The second Negev Forum meeting, scheduled initially in Morocco in March, was postponed several times over the Israeli new settlement policy, led mainly by the right wing.
The Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita had stated that the Negev Forum was delayed because the political juncture was not favorable, explaining that the meeting embraces the tenets of cooperation and dialogue, and runs counter provocative unilateral actions.