From the 4th through the 7th century CE, several communities flourished in the southern desert of the Land of Israel, which were abandoned after the Islamic conquest in 635 CE. Archaeologists have recently uncovered and examined masses of animal bones in this area—not only of sheep and goats, but of crocodiles and other more exotic creatures—leading them to a clearer picture of its history. David Israel writes:

According to numerous critics, many of whom have positions at prestigious think tanks and publications, the normalization agreements the Jewish state reached with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain constituted an abandonment of the Palestinians. Peter Berkowitz argues that, to the contrary, the Abraham Accords can help to improve the lot of the Palestinians, and to reduce the intensity of their conflict with Israel: