Saudi: Blocking Arab delegation visit proves Israel opposes peace process
AMMAN: Israel's blocking of a visit by Arab diplomats to the occupied West Bank showed its "rejection of... a diplomatic path to peace", Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Sunday.
Ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, along with the Arab League chief, had planned a trip to the Palestinian territory, but Israel said Friday that it would not cooperate, effectively blocking the trip as it controls the area's borders and airspace.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Amman with his Jordanian, Egyptian and Bahraini counterparts, Prince Faisal said Israel's move "illustrates and confirms its extremism and its rejection of any serious attempt to engage in a diplomatic path toward peace... it is clear that they only want violence."
The minister said the Arab states would, however, continue to advocate for a two-state solution.
"If the war in Gaza has shown one thing, it is that military solutions are futile and will not bring security to either side. A political and definitive solution is needed," he said.
The delegation was expected to meet with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority exercises limited control over parts of the West Bank.
Had the visit gone ahead, the delegation's head, Prince Faisal, would have become the first Saudi foreign minister to visit the West Bank.
"In Gaza, it's a war of extermination. And in the West Bank, successive measures are clearly aimed at weakening the Palestinian Authority and, consequently, compromising the creation of a Palestinian state," he added.
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 de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has repeatedly said Saudi Arabia will not recognise Israel without an independent Palestinian state.
In June, Saudi Arabia and France are to co-chair an international conference at UN headquarters meant to resurrect the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The diplomatic chief said the ministers spoke to Abbas in a video call and discussed the ongoing efforts "to obtain recognition of the Palestinian state by as many countries as possible and mobilise public opinion and international decision-makers to find a rapid end to the war in Gaza."
"Once again, I emphasise: those who claim that the two-state solution is the only solution must also adopt positions that support this solution, notably by recognising the State of Palestine," he added.--AFP
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