Israel will block rare Saudi-led ministerial delegation from visiting West Bank, official says, as anger over Gaza grows

CNN

a day ago

Israel has said it will 'not cooperate' with plans from the Palestinian Authority (PA) to host a Saudi-led delegation of foreign ministers in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli official told CNN on Friday.
In order to travel to the meeting in Ramallah, ministers from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Turkey needed approval from Israel who controls access to the West Bank. It would have been the highest-level Saudi visit to the area since it was occupied by Israel in 1967.
The Israeli official dubbed the meeting 'provocative' and told CNN 'Israel will not cooperate with such moves aimed at harming it and its security.'
The official added that the PA 'must stop violating its agreements with Israel on all levels.' It is unclear which agreements they are referring to.
Hussein Al-Sheikh, vice president of the PA, told CNN that an Arab ministerial delegation led by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan planned to arrive in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday to meet PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
The visit would come as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman pushes for international recognition of Palestinian statehood as the war in Gaza drags on and as prospects of Saudi-Israeli normalization grow more distant.
Palestinian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mazen Ghoneim told Saudi state-run Al Ekhbariya that the Saudi foreign minister would be joined by the top diplomats from Egypt, Jordan and 'other countries.'
'The ministerial visit… is considered a clear message. The Palestinian cause is a central issue to Arabs and Muslims,' Ghoneim said.
An Israeli source familiar with the matter told CNN that Israeli authorities were notified of the visit.
CNN has reached out to the governments of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Qatar for comment.
Shaul Arieli, the head of T-Politography, a think tank which studies the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said it would be the first such high-level delegation to visit the occupied West Bank since Israel seized the territory in 1967.
He told CNN the visit would be 'unprecedented' and underscores a rise in Saudi support for the Palestinian Authority that emerged after the start of the war in Gaza.
'It's a dramatic change,' Arieli said. The Saudis have made clear since the conflict began that 'they support the two-state solution according to '67 borders, they support the establishment of the capital of a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, and they are ready tosupport the budget of the Palestinian Authority.'
CNN understands that Saudi Arabia is frustrated at Israel's refusal to end the war in Gaza and is exerting intense diplomatic efforts to convince Western states to recognize Palestinian statehood, including the United States. The kingdom is confident that France will be among the states that will do so in June. Riyadh is also working to prop up the Palestinian Authority as it sees no viable alternative to its role as the political representative of the Palestinian people.
In his initial term, US President Donald Trump brokered landmark normalization deals between Israel and multiple Arab states. Yet, his primary ambition remains securing an agreement between Saudi Arabia, a key Muslim power, and Israel.
Normalization talks between the kingdom and Israel were progressing before Hamas' October 7 attack. Saudi Arabia was to establish diplomatic relations with Israel and in exchange receive a lucrative defense treaty with Washington, including the possibility of a nuclear program in the kingdom.
But as the death toll in Gaza rose and anger spread across the Arab and Muslim world, Saudi Arabia told US officials that it would not normalize relations unless Israel agreed to a pathway for a Palestinian state and 'calm in Gaza.'
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman doubled down in his criticism of Israel, accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza — a claim Israel has denied. His top diplomat told CNN last year that recognition of Israel would not happen without a Palestinian state.
In June, Saudi Arabia is expected to co-chair with France a high-level conference in New York for a two-state solution, which envisions the creation of a Palestinian state beside Israel.
Speaking in Singapore on Friday, Macron said the eventual recognition of a Palestinian state, was 'not only a moral duty, but a political necessity.'
'What we are building over the coming weeks is obviously a political response to the crisis (in Gaza). And yes, it's a necessity. Because today, over and above the current humanitarian tragedy, it is the very possibility of a Palestinian state that is being questioned.' he said.
He warned that Israel has 'hours or days' to improve humanitarian situation in Gaza or face 'tougher' European stance.
Riyadh appointed a non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories in 2023, weeks before Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel that left 1,200 people dead and triggered the ongoing war in Gaza. The ambassador, Nayef Al Sudairi visited the West Bank in September 2023 to present his credentials to Abbas in what was the highest-level official Saudi visit in decades at the time.
Historically, two Saudi kings have visited Jerusalem, including King Saud in 1954, and King Faisal in 1966.
CNN's Tamar Michaelis, Eyad Kourdi, Angus Watson and Martin Goillandeau contributed to this report.