Israel 'will not cooperate' with Saudi foreign minister's planned visit to Palestine
ISRAEL WILL NOT cooperate with a visit to the West Bank in Palestine by a group of Arab foreign ministers, an official has said, after a Saudi diplomatic source said the kingdom's foreign minister would travel to Ramallah.
It was reported yesterday that Prince Faisal bin Farhan would become the first Saudi foreign minister to visit the occupied West Bank tomorrow, according to a diplomatic source, as the Israeli war on Gaza continues and Saudi Arabia pushes for Palestinian statehood.
CNN reported that ministers from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Turkey would also take part.
Israel maintains an illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory's borders and airspace, meaning its approval would be needed for the diplomats to enter. In February, Israel denied an EU diplomatic delegation entry to the country
while en route to the West Bank.
Farhan's visit, if it goes ahead, would be the first such trip since Israel first occupied the Palestinian territory in 1967.
Saudi Arabia sent a lower-level delegation to Ramallah in September 2023, its first since 1967, not long before Hamas's 7 October attack triggered the Gaza war.
The news of Farhan's planned visit came a day after Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to build a 'Jewish Israeli state' in the occupied West Bank.
Katz's declaration followed the announcement that Israel would create 22 new illegal settlements there.
An Israeli official said today that 'The Palestinian Authority – which to this day refuses to condemn the October 7 massacre – intended to host in Ramallah a provocative meeting of foreign ministers from Arab countries to discuss the promotion of the establishment of a Palestinian state'.
The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas,
said on 16 October 2023
that Hamas' actions 'do not represent the Palestinian people'.
'Such a state would undoubtedly become a terrorist state in the heart of the Land of Israel,' the Israeli official said.
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'Israel will not cooperate with such moves aimed at harming it and its security.'
Those comments echo language from members of the government who have said a Palestinian state would represent an existential threat to Israel.
In June, Saudi Arabia and France will co-chair an international conference at UN headquarters meant to resurrect the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Saudi Arabia was said to have been close to recognising Israel before the start of the Gaza war, and US President Donald Trump, during a recent visit to Riyadh, called normalisation between the countries 'my fervent hope and wish'.
But Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said Saudi Arabia will not recognise Israel without an independent Palestinian state.
Under international law, all Israeli colonies (settlements) in Palestine are illegal but the government has ramped up their construction and expansion during the war in Gaza.
Most nations of the world recognise Palestinian statehood, with the majority of those who not being located in the West.
In May 2024, Ireland and a small number of other European countries
recognised Palestine as a state
, which led to furious rebukes from Israel.
With reporting from AFP
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