Saudi Arabia says no normalization with Israel without path to Palestinian state

ISTANBUL

Saudi Arabia will not normalize relations with Israel unless the Palestinian issue is resolved, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud told US news outlet CNN in an interview that was broadcast on Sunday.

Responding to a question about whether there could be no normal ties without a path to a credible and irreversible Palestinian state, Prince Faisal told CNN: “That's the only way we're going to get the benefit.”

“So, yes, because we need stability, and stability will only come through resolving the Palestinian issue.”

On Wednesday, Prince Faisal told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that Israel cannot enjoy peace without the establishment of a Palestinian state, emphasizing the need for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Prior to Israel's destructive war on Gaza that began on Oct. 7 last year, Saudi Arabia was engaged in negotiations for a potential normalization of relations with Israel, mediated by the US. But analysts believe the war led to the postponement of talks between the two parties.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing at least 25,105 Palestinians and injuring 62,681. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala