Asked about normalization with Israel, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said Friday that the kingdom’s priority is to end the war in Gaza “as a prelude to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
The comments came a day after US President Donald Trump reportedly hosted Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Farhan Al-Saud to discuss normalization with Israel and de-escalation with Iran amid reports that the US is looking to secure Israeli-Saudi and Israeli-Syrian normalization.
“We call for an immediate, permanent and sustainable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as a prelude to the establishment of a Palestinian state,” said Faisal Al-Saud at a press conference in Moscow alongside his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected calls to end the war in Gaza as part of a deal to release the remaining 50 hostages. However, Hebrew media has reported that he is working with Trump on a plan to end the Gaza war and renew Israel’s commitment to a two-state solution as part of a deal to normalize ties with Syria, Saudi Arabia and other countries following the success of the Iran war.
Al-Saud said his country counts on Trump’s “leadership” to “finally settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
He also said Riyadh was consulting with Paris about a new date for a French- and Saudi-sponsored conference on Palestinian statehood. The conference was set to be held at the UN General Assembly in New York last month, but was suspended due to Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.
Separately, Al-Saud called for the US and Iran to resume nuclear talks, which were also suspended due to the Iran war, in which Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear program, military leadership and missile production. The talks are reportedly set to resume in Oslo next week.
He also called on Iran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, after the Islamic Republic last month suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which has accused it of failing to comply with safeguards.
Israeli-Saudi normalization seemed just around the corner before the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists invaded Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza and unleashing a wave of anti-Israel sentiment in the Arab world.
Saudi Arabia has since insisted that any normalization agreement include a pathway to Palestinian statehood — a red line for many on the Israeli right.
On Thursday, Trump secretly met at the White House with the Saudi defense minister, Khalid bin Farhan Al-Saud, Fox News reported, citing multiple sources.
The sources said the talks focused on de-escalation with Iran, resuming nuclear talks, the necessary steps for Israeli normalization, a ceasefire-hostage deal in Gaza and peace in the Middle East, according to Fox News.
The meeting came as Washington and Riyadh finalize a trade deal, and “the message shared between the two allies… is that they see eye-to-eye on all issues,” according to the unidentified sources, Fox reported.
“There was progress and optimism on all fronts,” Fox quoted sources as saying.
Axios, which cited a source familiar with the meeting, reported that the Saudi defense minister also met with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and with White House special Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, who has overseen Gaza ceasefire-hostage talks and the Iran nuclear talks.
The White House did not immediately respond to Axios’s request for comment Thursday evening, the news site said. Netanyahu is set to meet with Trump at the White House on Monday.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.