Saudi FM slams Israel for blocking West Bank delegation
Saudi Arabia has accused Israel of “extremism” after it blocked a delegation of Arab foreign ministers from entering the occupied West Bank, Middle East Eye reported on June 2nd.
The visit, set for June 1st, was postponed after Israeli authorities informed the group that they would not be allowed entry, thwarting a rare high-level diplomatic visit. As the occupying power, Israel controls the West Bank’s external borders and must authorize such travel.
Speaking at a press conference in Amman, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud said the decision “embodies and confirms [Israel’s] extremism and refusal of any serious attempts for [a] peaceful pathway.”
He added that the move would “strengthen our will to double our diplomatic efforts within the international community to face this arrogance.”
The delegation, made up of foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE, had planned to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. It would have marked the highest-level Saudi delegation to the West Bank in over six decades.
An Israeli official confirmed the government’s decision to bar the visit, stating 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.”
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called the decision “yet another example” of Israel “killing any chance of a just and comprehensive settlement.”
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty confirmed that discussions on Palestinian statehood would continue later this month at an international conference in New York co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia. He said the agenda would include post-ceasefire security arrangements in Gaza, reconstruction plans, and efforts to prevent the forced displacement of Palestinians.
The Arab delegation’s planned visit was seen as part of a growing push by regional powers to reassert political engagement with the Palestinian leadership amid mounting international concern over the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the West Bank.
On may 20th, Morocco and the Netherlands co-hosted the most recent meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution. Nasser Bourita, Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, reaffirmed that establishing a two-state solution is the answer to diffusing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to Moroccan government-friendly outlet Hespress.
Middle East Eye via Reuters
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