The situation in the Gaza Strip and the tensions in the Arab world took a new turn as the Saudis have expressed interest in a possible Saudi-Israel deal.
In a BBC interview, Prince Khalid bin Bandar, the Saudi Ambassador to the UK said that Saudi Arabia is willing to normalise relations with Israel after the Israel-Hamas war gets over in Gaza, adding that any Saudi-Israel deal will include the Palestinian state creation.
Britain has been asking Saudi Arabia to act as a mediator in the Israel-Hamas war for a long as seen in the efforts made by the UK Defence Secretary Grant Snapps and the then UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s talks with Middle-Eastern foreign ministers, stressing on the two-state solution.
The Saudi ambassador UK revealed that Israel and Saudi Arabia were close to forming a pact with the Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, last year and Israel paused all US-mediated talks. However, the Saudis still want to renew ties with Israel, but not “at the cost of the Palestinian people”.
Prince Khalid said: “A deal was close, there is no question. For us, the final endpoint definitely included nothing less than an independent state of Palestine. So, while we still – going forward after 7 October – believe in normalisation, it does not come at the cost of the Palestinian people.”
“We were close to normalisation, therefore close to a Palestinian state. One doesn’t come without the other. The sequencing, how it is managed, that is what was being discussed,” Prince Khalid added.
However, Prince Khalid didn’t confirm what Saudi Arabia thought of the Hamas military group which has been designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and the US, saying that “the matter requires a lot [of] thought”.
“There is always room for change if you have optimism and hope. But when there is a conflict the first thing you have to recognise is that both sides have lost,” said the Saudi Ambassador.
Prince Khalid further elaborated on this when he said that the problem with the Netanyahu government is its “extreme, absolutist perspective which does not work to achieve compromise and therefore you are never going to end the conflict”.
This comes at a time when two far-right Israeli ministers have been denounced by the US for asking for a Palestinian resettlement outside Gaza.
The Saudi Arabian ambassador also warned about the “risk of radicalisation” that the Israel-Hamas war poses.
“The unprecedented level of the violence that has been carried out by both sides – but in particular by what is meant to be a responsible state in Israel – over the past three months, I don’t think I have seen anything like it in my life. The numbers are deplorable, absolutely deplorable,” said Prince Khalid.
The ambassador explained how it is creating a lack of hope in people across the world, not just Palestinians as everyone sees this as a “failure of humanity” and “nobody has done anything to stop it”.
“Efforts are being made, but it is not enough.” added the Saudi Ambassador.
Saudi Arabia has put the onus on Britain asking it to moderate its position and give Israel the same treatment as every other country.
The Ambassador said: “The blind spot towards Israel is a real problem because it provides a blind spot to peace.”
Saudi-Israel deal a big win for Israel?
A Saudi-Israel deal will be a breakthrough for the Jewish country as Saudi Arabia is a leader in the Arab world which has never formally recognised the Israeli state since it was created in 1948. This deal could recognise Israel as a country in the Arab world.
Earlier in September last year, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia announced on US television that a Saudi-Israel deal is getting closer every day.
Although the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman said that the Palestinian issue was important and the deal had to ease the lives of Palestinians, he didn’t speak of an independent Palestinian state.
It has been revealed that Palestinian officials secretly wanted any cash boost that would give them more control of the West Bank land in exchange for a US-backed Saudi-Israel process. However, publically Palestinian leaders rejected any deal that didn’t include a Palestinian state creation plan.
The Saudis paused the three-way discussions days before the Hamas attack on Israel which killed 1300 people. US officials were reportedly asked to pause the talks at that time.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who met the Crown Prince Mohammed on Monday said there’s a clear interest in pursuing the Saudi-Israel deal as the subject of normalisation in Gaza came up during his meeting with the Crown Prince.
“But it will require that the conflict end in Gaza, and it will also clearly require that there be a practical pathway to a Palestinian state,” said Blinken.
Meanwhile, the UK has urged all parties involved in the Gaza conflict to uphold the 2720 UN resolution regarding Gaza.
In a statement given at the UN Assembly on January 9 said: “United Nations Security Council resolution 2720 is definitive. It demands that the parties to the conflict ‘allow, facilitate and enable the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance’ throughout the Gaza Strip. We call on all parties to implement this resolution in full.”
The UK underlined that at least 500 aid and private sector trucks should be allowed to enter Gaza every day instead of the 150 trucks being allowed currently.
“Israel should accelerate and rationalise its screening, clear the backlog of loaded trucks in Egypt, and do everything else it can to facilitate aid into Gaza. Israel should also open more entry points for longer, for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, if security allows,” the UK statement said.
Britain further underlined its support for the 2720 Gaza resolution for which it voted saying it sends out an “urgent demand for expanded humanitarian access, the release of hostages and steps towards a sustainable ceasefire where Hamas can no longer pose a threat to Israel”.
The UK has also thanked the UAE for taking the lead in supporting the resolution.
However, Britain cautioned against vetoing the resolution saying that “the UK, as a P5 member, considers the veto a heavy responsibility, to be used in the interests of securing the peace and security that people around the world seek”.
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