Riyadh hosts first meeting of ‘international alliance’ pushing for Palestinian state
Saudi FM decries ‘genocide’ in Gaza, reiterates kingdom’s position it will only normalize ties with Israel when two-state solution implemented
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia on Wednesday hosted 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 United Nations 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 said nearly 90 “states and international organizations” were 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 said, describing the humanitarian situation as “catastrophic” and denouncing the “complete blockade” of northern Gaza.
Israel has rejected accusations of genocide, stating that the goal of the ongoing operation is to eliminate the terror group and rescue the 251 hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023. The Hamas assault also killed some 1,200 people.
The army has accused Hamas of operating among civilians and using them as human shields. It has highlighted numerous steps it takes to mitigate harm to civilians while acknowledging that errors have occurred.
The Riyadh meeting was expected to focus on humanitarian access, the embattled UN agency for Palestinian refugees, and measures to advance a two-state solution, diplomats said.
The European Union was set to be represented by Sven Koopmans, the special representative for the Middle East peace process, diplomats said.
The United States, Israel’s most important military backer, sent Hady Amr, the State Department’s special representative for Palestinian affairs.
The Israel-Hamas war has revived talk of a “two-state solution” in which Israeli and Palestinian states would live side by side, though analysts say the goal seems more unattainable than ever.
The hard-right Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains implacably opposed to Palestinian statehood and most Israelis remain deeply mistrustful of the Palestinians following decades of terror, culminating in the October 7 massacre.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, and custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites, paused US-brokered talks on recognizing Israel after the war broke out between the Hamas terror group and Israel.
In September, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said an “independent Palestinian state” was a condition for normalization.
Prince Faisal reiterated that position on Wednesday.
Ireland, Norway and Spain announced their recognition of a Palestinian state in May, prompting an angry response from Israel, which cast it as a prize for terrorism.
Slovenia soon joined them, bringing the number of countries that recognize a Palestinian state to 146 out of the 193 UN member states.
The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 43,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 367.
The Times of Israel Community.