Saudi Arabia hosts meeting of new group pushing for Palestinian state

Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud listens as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a meeting with Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States in New York on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.  (Caitlin Ochs/Pool Photo via AP)
Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud listens as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a meeting with Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States in New York on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (Caitlin Ochs/Pool Photo via AP)

Saudi Arabia hosts the first meeting of a new “international alliance” to press for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Unveiled last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the “International Alliance to Implement the Two-State Solution” brings together nations from the Middle East, Europe and beyond.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan says nearly 90 “states and international organizations” are taking part in the two-day meeting in Riyadh.

“A genocide is happening with the goal of evicting the Palestinian people from their land, which Saudi Arabia rejects,” he says, describing the humanitarian situation as “catastrophic” and denouncing the “complete blockade” of northern Gaza.

The Riyadh meeting is expected to focus on humanitarian access, the embattled UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA and measures to advance a two-state solution, diplomats say.

The Gaza war has revived talk of a “two-state solution” in which Israeli and Palestinian states would live in peace side by side, though analysts say the goal seems less attainable than ever.

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