A senior Hamas official urges Arab countries not to recognize Israel, as Saudi Arabia is being courted by the United States to join a small group of its neighbors in normalizing ties.
“We call on them not to normalize,” Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim tells AFP. “We call on all Arab countries, both those currently normalizing and those considering normalization, to step back from this.”
Israel and Saudi Arabia appeared to be on the cusp of a US-brokered normalization deal in October 2023, which stalled after the terror group’s brutal onslaught, with Riyadh shelving the matter amid Arab anger over Israel’s subsequent military offensive in Gaza.
US President Donald Trump has brought the issue back to the table since taking office last month.
Saudi Arabia this week reiterated its stance against normalizing relations with Israel before a two-state solution has been reached, though Trump said that Riyadh hadn’t made the establishment of a Palestinian state a condition for a peace deal.
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