The probable imminent ground attack by the Israeli army on Gaza is not at all to Riyadh’s liking. Saudi Arabia has therefore decided to suspend negotiations on possible normalization with Israel sponsored by the United States, a week after the start of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas.
This decision was announced on Saturday by a source close to the Saudi government, during a visit to Riyadh by American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who spoke with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhane.
Riyadh demands entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza
The latter called for an “immediate ceasefire in Gaza and its surroundings”, and the lifting of restrictions imposed by Israel on the entry of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory, according to a press release from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs , published at the end of the meeting.
On October 7, hundreds of Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip. At least 1,300 Israelis, most of them civilians, have been killed since the attack. In response, the Israeli army carried out devastating raids in the Gaza Strip controlled by Hamas, where more than 2,200 Palestinians, most of them civilians, including 724 children, died according to local authorities. The army also called on residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate.
On Friday, in its strongest criticism of Israel since October 7, Riyadh said it “categorically” rejected any displacement of the population of Gaza and condemned the bombing of “defenseless civilians”.
A rapprochement desired by Washington
Saudi Arabia, custodian of Islam’s first holiest sites, has never recognized Israel and has not joined the 2020 Abraham Accords, brokered by the United States, which allowed its neighbors, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Morocco, to establish official ties with Israel. The kingdom has been pressed in recent months by the American administration to do the same, with Riyadh demanding in exchange security guarantees from Washington and help in the development of a civil nuclear program.
“The priority must be to end the suffering of civilians and we must find a way to quickly defuse the situation to bring peace – at least by stopping the weapons – and then work to address the humanitarian challenges,” said Faisal bin Farhane after his meeting with Antony Blinken.
The American Secretary of State, for his part, once again underlined the “vital importance” of protecting civilians. “That’s exactly what we do together. We are working in particular to establish safe areas in Gaza and a corridor allowing humanitarian aid to reach the people who need it,” he said.