It is “absolutely necessary” that Israel accepts that it cannot exist without the existence of a Palestinian state, Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has said.
“Its [Israel] security is served by building a Palestinian state,” he told reporters after attending a meeting in Brussels, Belgium on Sunday.
He attended the meeting of the Ministerial Committee assigned by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit on Developments in the Gaza Strip.
The committee addressed the urgent need to end the Gaza conflict and take necessary steps toward implementing a two-state solution.
“So, we hope sincerely that the leaders in Israel will realise that it is in their interest to work with the international community not just to strengthen the Palestinian authority but finally establish a Palestinian state along with the 1967 border as everybody understands is the right thing to do,” the Saudi foreign minister said.
Israeli strikes since October 7, in response to Hamas attack, has killed 35,903 Palestinians, according to Gaza authorities.
On Monday, Israeli air strikes killed at least 35 Palestinians and wounded dozens in an area in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah designated for the displaced, Palestinian health and civil emergency service officials said.
The Saudi foreign minister called for building momentum to reinvigorate the two-state solution independent of Israel’s position because Israel does not get to decide whether or not Palestinians have a right to self-determination.
“This is something enshrined in the UN Charter, international law. It is also a founding principle of the United Nations decision.”
Prince Farhan called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages. He highlighted that the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate and the additional steps by Israel were not just impacting the population in Gaza, but also in the West Bank.
“There is a consensus among the international community that the only way to ensure the security not just of Palestinian people and right of the Palestinian people, but also of Israel is through a two-state solution,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said that the viability of that solution was being undermined every day. He praised the three European states’ decision to recognise Palestine as a state and added that such a decision re-emphasis the viability of the two-state solution.
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He went on to add that the establishment of a Palestine state served the interest of everyone in the region.
“We will build a lighthouse and we will light the light, and we hope that eventually Israel will come to the shore of security and peace for all of us,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Saudi foreign ministry expressed condemnation and denunciation of the continuous massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces, the latest of which is targeting the tents of the displaced Palestinians near the UNRWA warehouses northwest of Rafah.
