Saudi foreign minister to make rare visit to West Bank, Palestinians say, as anger over Gaza grows
Saudi Arabia will send its top diplomat to the West Bank this weekend, Palestinian officials said, in what would be the highest-level Saudi visit to the area since it was occupied by Israel in 1967.
Hussein Al-Sheikh, vice president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), told CNN that an Arab ministerial delegation led by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan will 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 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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘It is a whole different environment': Republicans revisit key Biden investigations with new momentum
The House Judiciary Committee is expected to interview former Hunter Biden special counsel David Weiss behind closed doors on Friday, two sources familiar with the interview told CNN, as part of a broader Republican effort to revisit previous probes into the Biden family that stalled last Congress but are gaining new momentum now that Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House. The scheduled interview, which could still be moved, would be the second time the Republican-led panel will interview Weiss about his work as Republicans continue to probe whether the investigation was hampered by political interference. Weiss has still never testified publicly about his six-year criminal probe into the president's son, which included three convictions, but was ultimately short-circuited as a result of the former president's unconditional pardon of his son. House Judiciary Republicans have long wanted to call Weiss, the Trump-appointed US attorney, back for questioning after his first closed-door interview in 2023. Committee Republicans were also able to finally secure interviews with two Department of Justice tax division prosecutors involved in the Hunter Biden probe who they had been aggressively pursuing for months, one of the sources familiar told CNN. The Justice Department is working with Weiss to provide access to documents he may need for his interview, a person briefed on the matter said. Any delays in getting access to documents would be a scheduling issue and the ability to have personnel who can oversee it, the person briefed on the matter said. It's not the only Biden investigation Republicans are reexamining that leans into a fresh political appetite with GOP control of Washington. House Oversight Chair James Comer is returning to his probe of the former president's mental fitness in an entirely new landscape after a recent book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson put Joe Biden's physical and mental decline back in the spotlight. Comer told CNN he is in the process of scheduling key interviews with Biden's White House physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, and other senior aides who had all rebuffed his efforts last Congress. Beyond the five initial interviews from Biden's orbit, the Republican Chairman told CNN he wants to look at the executive orders Biden signed in his last six months in office and use of the autopen. In the weeks immediately after Biden's disastrous 2024 debate performance that unraveled his presidential campaign and upended the Democratic party, Comer requested to interview Biden's doctor and subpoenaed three senior Biden aides to discuss their roles in the Biden White House, which never materialized. Now, Comer said in an interview with CNN, 'it is a whole different environment.' At the time of his 2024 interview requests, Comer's impeachment inquiry into the Biden family's business dealings had fallen apart and the Biden administration felt no incentive to comply with the House Oversight Committee. Probing Biden's decline now, Comer says, will be a lot easier than trying to convince his colleagues of an alleged Biden family foreign influence peddling scheme, which even Comer conceded was difficult to do, particularly in a minute or less on Fox News. Republicans failed to uncover evidence to support their core allegations against the president, and lacked the votes in their divided, narrow majority last Congress to impeach the president. 'The money laundering and the shell companies, the average American couldn't understand that. I mean, that was hard to understand,' Comer told CNN. 'You know, I did not do a good job explaining that.' But with his investigation into Biden's mental and physical decline, Comer said, 'people see a president that clearly is in decline. They saw it in the debate.' Democrats sought to dismantle the Republican-led 11 month impeachment inquiry into Biden last Congress at every turn. Comer told CNN that although those Democrats aren't jumping at the opportunity to cooperate now, he does not see them as being obstructive either. 'I take that as a step in the right direction,' he told CNN. Tapper and Thompson's book documents how Biden, his closest aides and his family forged ahead with the former president's doomed 2024 reelection bid despite signs of his physical and mental decline. In a previous statement to CNN, a Biden spokesman criticized the book, saying that evidence shows that 'he was a very effective president.' Former Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, who launched a long-shot challenge to Biden and was outspoken about his concerns over the former president's age, told CNN he did not think there needed to be an investigation on Capitol Hill at this point into Biden's fitness as president. 'This case already went to trial, the jury of American voters convicted the party of the accused, and handed out the harshest political punishment possible-losing the single most consequential election in modern history,' Phillips told CNN. Instead, Phillips called on Biden to authorize his physician to disclose his health file and condition under oath. 'Only if the former president refuses, or if questioning uncovers possible criminal activity, should an investigation be initiated,' Phillips added. Biden was recently diagnosed with an 'aggressive form' of prostate cancer. CNN's Evan Perez contributed to this report.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Former University of Michigan president rejected for University of Florida's top job amid conservative backlash
St. Petersburg, Florida (AP) — Longtime academic Santa Ono was rejected Tuesday for the University of Florida presidency by the state university system board amid sharp criticism from political conservatives about his past support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs and other initiatives they view as unacceptable liberal ideology. The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state's universities, voted 10-6 against Ono, who was most recently president of the University of Michigan. The University of Florida Board of Trustees had voted unanimously in May to approve Ono as the school's 14th president, and it is unprecedented for the governors to reverse such an action. Now the search will start all over. Ono's proposed contract included a number of ideological requirements, such as how well he stopped programs that focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. He was to cooperate with Gov. Ron DeSantis' Office of Government Efficiency — similar to the office created by President Donald Trump — and appoint other university officials and deans who are 'firmly aligned' with Florida's approach. Several prominent conservatives raised questions about Ono before the vote over pro-Palestinian protests, climate change efforts, gender ideology and DEI programs at the University of Michigan and his previous academic positions. These actions, Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said on the X social platform, show 'he is willing to appease and prioritize far-left activists over ensuring students are protected and receive a quality education.' Others raising objections include Donald Trump Jr. and Florida GOP U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds, Greg Steube and Jimmy Patronis. Donalds is a Republican candidate for governor. Writing in Inside Higher Ed, Ono said he supported DEI initiatives at first because they aim was 'equal opportunity and fairness for every student.' 'But over time, I saw how DEI became something else — more about ideology, division and bureaucracy, not student success,' Ono wrote, adding that he eventually limited DEI offices at Michigan. 'I believe in Florida's vision for higher education.' DeSantis, a Republican who has pushed reforms in higher education to eliminate what he calls 'woke' policies such as DEI, did not take a public stand on Ono but did say at a recent news conference that some of his statements made the governor 'cringe.' Ono faced similar pointed questions at Tuesday's meeting — especially from former Republican state House speakers Paul Renner and Jose Oliva — leading board member Charles Lydecker to object to the procedure. 'We have never used this as a forum to interrogate. This is not a court of law. Candidly, this process does not seem fair to me,' Lydecker said. Oliva, however, questioned how to square Ono's many past statements about hot-button cultural issues with his more conservative stance now that he sought the Florida job. 'Now we are told to believe you are now abandoning an entire ideological architecture,' Oliva said. 'We are asking someone to lead our flagship university. I don't understand how it becomes unfair.' Steube, writing on X, praised the board for its decision. 'Great news for my alma mater and the state of Florida! The Board of Governors heard us loud and clear: Santa Ono was the wrong choice for UF,' the congressman said. Ono was to replace Kent Fuchs, who became the school's temporary, interim president last summer after ex-U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse stepped down. Sasse left the U.S. Senate, where he had represented Nebraska, to become the university's president in 2023. Sasse announced in July he was leaving the job after his wife was diagnosed with epilepsy. Later reports surfaced that Sasse gave six former staffers and two former Republican officials jobs with salaries that outstripped comparable positions and spent over $1.3 million on private catering for lavish dinners, football tailgates and extravagant social functions in his first year on the job. Ono is also the former president of the University of British Columbia and the University of Cincinnati.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Woman Kicked out of Courtroom for What She Yelled at Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal trial took an unexpected turn on June 3 when the proceedings were disrupted. A female heckler yelled out his nickname in the Manhattan courtroom, along with "several profanities," according to People. "These motherf—ers are laughing at you," she screamed and then added, "You're laughing at a Black man's legacy" and "Pull your gun out, ninja, I dare you." Judge Arun Subramanian had her removed from the courtroom while Combs reportedly did not react to the disruption. The disturbance came on a crucial day of testimony from Eddy Garcia, a security guard at InterContinental Hotel in Century City, CA where Combs was spotted by surveillance cameras beating former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016. The CCTV video was leaked by CNN in 2024. Garcia said on the stand that the music producer asked him for the footage because it would otherwise "ruin him," per The Independent. Garcia testified that his boss offered it to Combs for $50,000. Per Garcia, the video was delivered to the performer in exchange for $100,00 via a paper bag. Garcia's boss reportedly had "to sign an NDA with a $1 million penalty." Combs is facing two charges of sex trafficking, two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution, and a racketeering conspiracy charge after federal investigators accused him of "kidnapping, drugging, and coercing women into sexual activities, sometimes using firearms or threats of violence" between 2004 and 2024, per the BBC. His trial, which began on May 12, is expected to last eight to 10 weeks. He faces life in prison for the racketeering charge alone. Combs has continued to maintain his innocence to the charges, but he apologized for his behavior after the Ventura clip surfaced. "I take full responsibility for my actions in that video," Combs said in a now-deleted Instagram statement in May 2024. "I was disgusted then when I did it. I'm disgusted now."Woman Kicked out of Courtroom for What She Yelled at Sean 'Diddy' Combs first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 3, 2025
