JERUSALEM (AP) – Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said the kingdom will not normalise relations with Israel or contribute to Gaza’s reconstruction without a credible pathway to a Palestinian state.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan’s remarks in an interview with CNN broadcast late on Sunday were some of the most direct yet from Saudi officials. It puts them at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has rejected Palestinian statehood and described plans for open-ended military control over Gaza.
The dispute over Gaza’s future pits the United States (US) and its Arab allies against Israel and poses a major obstacle to any plans for postwar governance or reconstruction in Gaza.
Before the October 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war, the US had been trying to broker a landmark agreement in which Saudi Arabia would normalise relations with Israel in exchange for US security guarantees, aid in establishing a civilian nuclear programme in the kingdom, and progress toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In September 2023, Netanyahu had said Israel was “at the cusp” of such a deal, which he said would transform the Middle East.
In the interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, the host asked: “Are you saying unequivocally that if there is not a credible and irreversible path to a Palestinian state, there will not be normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel?”
“That’s the only way we’re going to get a benefit,” Prince Faisal replied. “So, yes.”
Earlier in the interview, when asked if oil-rich Saudi Arabia would finance reconstruction in Gaza where Israel’s air and ground offensive has devastated vast swaths of the impoverished territory, Prince Faisal gave a similar answer.
“As long as we’re able to find a pathway to a solution, a resolution, a pathway that means that we’re not going to be here again in a year or two, then we can talk about anything,” he said.
The Palestinians seek a state that would include Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
OVER 25,000 KILLED IN GAZA
Israel’s offensive has killed at least 25,105 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded more than 60,000, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says around two-thirds of those killed were women and children.
Some 85 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, seeking elusive shelter in the south as Israel continues to strike all parts of the besieged enclave.
United Nations officials say one in four people in Gaza are starving as the ongoing fighting and Israeli restrictions hinder the delivery of humanitarian aid.
