Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic chief says he will not recognize Israel without a path to a Palestinian state

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Saudi Arabia will not normalize relations with Israel or contribute to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip without a credible path to the creation of a Palestinian state, the kingdom’s foreign minister said.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan’s remarks in an interview with CNN aired Sunday night were among the most direct comments to date from Saudi officials. They clashed with the position of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has rejected the formation of a Palestinian state and announced that he plans to maintain indefinite military control over Gaza.

The dispute over the future of the territory, which comes as the war continues with no end in sight, pits the United States and its Arab allies against Israel and poses a major obstacle to any post-war governance or reconstruction plan in Gaza.

Before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war, the United States was trying to broker a historic deal in which Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with Israel in exchange for American security guarantees, help establishing a civilian nuclear program in the kingdom and progress in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu said in September that Israel was “on the brink” of that deal, which he said would transform the Middle East.

In the interview on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS program, the host asked: “Are you saying unequivocally that if there is no credible and irreversible path to a Palestinian state, there will be no normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel?”.

“That is the only way we are going to make a profit,” Prince Faisal responded. “So yes.”

Earlier in the interview, when asked if oil-rich Saudi Arabia would finance reconstruction in Gaza — where the Israeli air and ground offensive has devastated large swaths of the impoverished territory — the diplomat gave a similar answer.

“As long as we can find a way to a solution, a resolution, a way that means we’re not going to be the same again in a year or two, then we can talk about anything,” he said. “But if we’re just going to restore the situation before October 7 in a way that poses another round of this, as we’ve seen in the past, we’re not interested in that conversation.”

The Palestinians want to form a state that would include Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the annexed territories of East Jerusalem, areas that Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its capital and the West Bank to be the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people. It has built dozens of settlements in the two territories, where hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers live. The last round of peace negotiations collapsed almost 15 years ago.

MORE THAN 25,000 DEAD IN GAZA

The current war between Israel and Hamas, the fifth and by far the deadliest, began when Palestinian militants breached Israeli defenses and assaulted several nearby towns, killing about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. and destroyed the Israelis’ sense of security.

The Israeli offensive has killed at least 25,105 Palestinians in Gaza and injured 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 about two-thirds of those killed were women and children.

The Israeli army says it has killed about 9,000 militants, without providing evidence, and blames Hamas for the high number of civilian casualties because it positions fighters, tunnels and other military infrastructure in highly populated residential areas.

Around 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants have fled their homes in search of an elusive refuge in the south as Israel continues to bombard the entire besieged enclave. United Nations officials say one in four people in Gaza are facing famine, as fighting and Israeli restrictions complicate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

The war has also stoked tensions across the region as Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen attack Israeli and U.S. targets as the risk of a broader conflict grows.

PRESSURE GROWS ON NETANYAHU FROM ALL SIDES

Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until he achieves “complete victory” over Hamas and recovers the remaining hostages, after more than 100 were freed during a ceasefire in November in exchange for dozens of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

However, Israelis are increasingly divided on the question of whether that is possible.

Hamas is believed to be holding hostages in deep tunnels and using them as human shields for its leaders. Israel has only managed to successfully rescue one hostage, and Hamas says several have been killed in Israeli airstrikes or during botched rescue operations.

Relatives of the hostages and other protesters have set up a protest camp outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem and vow to stay there until an agreement is reached with Hamas to bring the rest of the hostages home. Other protests have demanded new elections.

Netanyahu has ruled out another ceasefire and exchange and says military pressure is key to freeing the captives. Hamas has said it will only free more captives in exchange for an end to the war and the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

The veteran prime minister, who has seen his popularity plummet since October 7, faces pressure from the United States — Israel’s main ally — to employ more precise military operations, do more to facilitate humanitarian aid and accept post-war plans. with widespread support in the region.

But Netanyahu’s coalition government depends on far-right parties that want to redouble the offensive, encourage the “voluntary” emigration of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and reestablish Jewish settlements there.

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Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.