Recognizing Palestinian state is a ‘strategic necessity' Saudi Arabia tells UN
LONDON: Recognizing the state of Palestine is a 'strategic necessity' that would mark the beginning of peace in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia told a UN meeting on Friday.
The comments come as the Kingdom and France prepare to co-chair a global conference next month designed to hasten the implementation of a two-state solution to end decades of conflict between Israel and Palestinians.
The effort has gained further support this week as the devastating toll of Israel's resumed assault on Gaza sparked further international anger.
Speaking at a UN General Assembly meeting in preparation for the conference, the co-chair Manal Radwan, counsellor at Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry, said a just solution to the Palestinian question is not only a moral and legal imperative, but 'the cornerstone of a new regional order based on mutual recognition and coexistence.'
'Regional peace begins with recognizing the state of Palestine, not as a symbolic gesture, but as a strategic necessity,' she said.
'It is the only way to eliminate the space exploited by non-state actors and replace despair with a political horizon, grounded in rights and sovereignty, ensuring, security, and dignity for all.'
Radwan described the meeting as a moment of 'historic urgency' with Gaza 'enduring unimaginable suffering' and civilians continue to pay the price of war 'that must end immediately.'
She said Saudi Arabia was honored to stand with other nations committed to the diplomatic effort aiming to bring 'real, irreversible, and transformative change, to ensure, once and for all, the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
21 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
'No Eid' for West Bank Palestinians Who Lost Sons in Israeli Raids
Abeer Ghazzawi had little time to visit her two sons' graves for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha before Israeli soldiers cleared the cemetery near the refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. The Israeli army has conducted a months-long operation in the camp which has forced Ghazzawi, along with thousands of other residents, from her home. For Ghazzawi, the few precious minutes she spent at her sons' graves still felt like a small victory. "On the last Eid (Eid al-Fitr, celebrating the end of Ramadan in March), they raided us. They even shot at us. But this Eid, there was no shooting, just that they kicked us out of the cemetery twice", the 48-year-old told AFP. "We were able to visit our land, clean up around the graves, and pour rosewater and cologne on them", she added. Eid al-Adha, which begins on Friday, is one of the biggest holidays in the Muslim calendar. As part of the celebrations, families traditionally visit the graves of their loved ones. In the Jenin camp cemetery, women and men had brought flowers for their deceased relatives, and many sat on the side of their loved ones' graves as they remembered the dead, clearing away weeds and dust. An armored car arrived at the site shortly after, unloading soldiers to clear the cemetery of its mourners who walked away solemnly without protest. Ghazzawi's two sons, Mohammad and Basel, were killed in January 2024 in a Jenin hospital by undercover Israeli troops. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group claimed the two brothers as its fighters after their deaths. Like Ghazzawi, many in Jenin mourned sons killed during one of the numerous Israeli operations that have targeted the city, a known bastion of Palestinian armed groups fighting Israel. -'There is no Eid'- In the current months-long military operation in the north of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, Israeli forces looking for militants have cleared three refugee camps and deployed tanks in Jenin. Mohammad Abu Hjab, 51, went to the cemetery on the other side of the city to visit the grave of his son, killed in January by an Israeli strike that also killed five other people. "There is no Eid. I lost my son -- how can it be Eid for me?" he asked as he stood by the six small gravestones of the dead young men. The Israeli military did not offer details at the time but said it had carried out "an attack in the Jenin area". "There's no accountability, no oversight", lamented Abu Hjab. "One of the victims (of the strike) was just a kid, born in 2008 -— so he was only 16 years old." "I still have three other children. I live 24 hours a day with no peace of mind", he added, referring to the army's continued presence in Jenin. All around him, families sat or stood around graves at Jenin's eastern neighborhood cemetery, which they visited after the early morning Eid prayer at the city's nearby Great Mosque. The mosque's imam led a prayer at the cemetery for those killed in Gaza and for the community's dead, particularly those killed by the Israeli army. Hamam al-Sadi, 31, told AFP he has visited the cemetery at every religious holiday since his brother was killed in a strike, to "just sit with him." -'Our only hope'- Several graves marked "martyr" -- a term broadly applied to Palestinian civilians killed by Israel -- were decorated with photos of young men holding weapons. Mohammad Hazhouzi, 61, lost a son during a military raid in November 2024. He has also been unemployed since Israel stopped giving work permits to West Bank residents after the Gaza war erupted. Despite the army's continued presence in Jenin, Hazhouzi harbored hope. "They've been there for months. But every occupation eventually comes to an end, no matter how long it lasts". "God willing, we will achieve our goal of establishing our Palestinian state. That's our only hope," he said. "Be optimistic, and good things will come".
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
PM Sharif urges nation to remember Palestinians as Pakistan marks Eid Al-Adha
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday urged the nation to remember the people of Palestine suffering 'ruthless' occupation at the hands of Israel, state-run media reported, as millions of Pakistanis celebrated Eid Al-Adha. Eid Al-Adha is one of the two most important festivals of the Islamic calendar. Muslims mark the Eid Al-Adha holiday by slaughtering animals such as sheep and goats, and the meat is shared among family and friends and donated to the poor. The day began with Sharif and senior officials across the country offering Eid Al-Adha prayers in mosques and praying for Pakistan's progress and prosperity. 'He [Sharif] said today, we must especially remember our Palestinian brothers and sisters who are enduring ruthless and inhumane oppression and hunger,' state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. The Pakistani premier's message comes as the Israeli military presses on with its intensified military campaign in Gaza, issuing an evacuation order for residents of parts of the city on Friday as the Middle East celebrated Eid Al-Adha. The Pakistani prime minister also urged the masses to remember the people in Indian-administered Kashmir, saying that they were involved in a 'just and courageous' struggle for their right to self-determination for decades. In his message to the nation, President Asif Ali Zardari said there was a pressing need to support the underprivileged and marginalized segments of our society. 'Asif Ali Zardari said as a nation, we must support each other, share in each other's sorrows, and work together to build a prosperous and great Pakistan,' Radio Pakistan reported. Pakistan Army's military leadership paid tribute to the 'unwavering resilience' of the Pakistani nation, recognizing the sacrifices of the armed forces, law enforcement agencies, and citizens who continue to uphold the security of the country. 'The Pakistan Armed Forces stand resolutely with the people, united in purpose and steadfast in their sacred duty to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country,' the Inter-Services Public Relations, the military's media wing, said.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Lebanon aims to lure back wealthy Gulf tourists to jumpstart its war-torn economy
BEIRUT: Fireworks lit up the night sky over Beirut's famous St. Georges Hotel as hit songs from the 1960s and 70s filled the air in a courtyard overlooking the Mediterranean retro-themed event was hosted last month by Lebanon's Tourism Ministry to promote the upcoming summer season and perhaps recapture some of the good vibes from an era viewed as a golden one for the country. In the years before a civil war began in 1975, Lebanon was the go-to destination for wealthy tourists from neighboring Gulf countries seeking beaches in summer, snow-capped mountains in winter and urban nightlife the decade after the war, tourists from Gulf countries – and crucially, Saudi Arabia – came back, and so did Lebanon's economy. But by the early 2000s, as the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah gained power, Lebanon's relations with Gulf countries began to sour. Tourism gradually dried up, starving its economy of billions of dollars in annual after last year's bruising war with Israel, Hezbollah is much weaker and Lebanon's new political leaders sense an opportunity to revitalize the economy once again with help from wealthy neighbors. They aim to disarm Hezbollah and rekindle ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, which in recent years have prohibited their citizens from visiting Lebanon or importing its products.'Tourism is a big catalyst, and so it's very important that the bans get lifted,' said Laura Khazen Lahoud, the country's tourism the highway leading to the Beirut airport, once-ubiquitous banners touting Hezbollah's leadership have been replaced with commercial billboards and posters that read 'a new era for Lebanon.' In the center of Beirut, and especially in neighborhoods that hope to attract tourists, political posters are coming down, and police and army patrols are on the are signs of thawing relations with some Gulf neighbors. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have lifted yearslong travel eyes are now on Saudi Arabia, a regional political and economic powerhouse, to see if it will follow suit, according to Lahoud and other Lebanese officials. A key sticking point is security, these officials say. Although a ceasefire with Israel has been in place since November, near-daily airstrikes have continued in southern and eastern Lebanon, where Hezbollah over the years had built its political base and powerful military as a diplomatic and economic bridgeAs vital as tourism is — it accounted for almost 20 percent of Lebanon's economy before it tanked in 2019 — the country's leaders say it is just one piece of a larger puzzle they are trying to put back agricultural and industrial sectors are in shambles, suffering a major blow in 2021, when Saudi Arabia banned their exports after accusing Hezbollah of smuggling drugs into Riyadh. Years of economic dysfunction have left the country's once-thriving middle class in a state of World Bank says poverty nearly tripled in Lebanon over the past decade, affecting close to half its population of nearly 6 million. To make matters worse, inflation is soaring, with the Lebanese pound losing 90 percent of its value, and many families lost their savings when banks is seen by Lebanon's leaders as the best way to kickstart the reconciliation needed with Gulf countries — and only then can they move on to exports and other economic growth opportunities.'It's the thing that makes most sense, because that's all Lebanon can sell now,' said Sami Zoughaib, research manager at The Policy Initiative, a Beirut-based think summer still weeks away, flights to Lebanon are already packed with expats and locals from countries that overturned their travel bans, and hotels say bookings have been the event hosted last month by the tourism ministry, the owner of the St. Georges Hotel, Fady El-Khoury, beamed. The hotel, owned by his father in its heyday, has acutely felt Lebanon's ups and downs over the decades, closing and reopening multiple times because of wars. 'I have a feeling that the country is coming back after 50 years,' he a recent weekend, as people crammed the beaches of the northern city of Batroun, and jet skis whizzed along the Mediterranean, local business people sounded optimistic that the country was on the right path.'We are happy, and everyone here is happy,' said Jad Nasr, co-owner of a private beach club. 'After years of being boycotted by the Arabs and our brothers in the Gulf, we expect this year for us to always be full.'Still, tourism is not a panacea for Lebanon's economy, which for decades has suffered from rampant corruption and has been in talks with the International Monetary Fund for years over a recovery plan that would include billions in loans and require the country to combat corruption, restructure its banks, and bring improvements to a range of public services, including electricity and those and other reforms, Lebanon's wealthy neighbors will lack confidence to invest there, experts said. A tourism boom alone would serve as a 'morphine shot that would only temporarily ease the pain' rather than stop the deepening poverty in Lebanon, Zoughaib tourism minister, Lahoud, agreed, saying a long-term process has only just begun.'But we're talking about subjects we never talked about before,' she said. 'And I think the whole country has realized that war doesn't serve anyone, and that we really need our economy to be back and flourish again.'
