Saudi diplomat to meet with PA officials in Ramallah, likely seeking to finalize Palestinian demands during ongoing normalization talks with Israel.
By World Israel News Staff
Following a bombshell interview by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman confirming that a historic normalization agreement is growing closer “every day,” a delegation of Saudi Arabian diplomats is slated to visit Palestinian Authority-controlled enclaves in Judea and Samaria this week.
The visit likely signals an attempt to firm up Palestinian demands towards Israel ahead of a potential peace deal, as the Saudis have repeatedly publicly expressed that they will not normalize relations with Jerusalem without significant victories for the Palestinians.
According to a Reuters report, Saudi ambassador to Jordan Nayef al-Sudairi, who was appointed as Riyadh’s first-ever non-resident ambassador to Palestine in August, will lead the delegation of several prominent Saudi visitors.
“We welcome His Excellency the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the State of Palestine, who will present his official credentials to His Excellency President Mahmoud Abbas within a few days,” PA official Hussein al-Sheikh tweeted Monday.
During a speech at the UN on Saturday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan stressed that “security in the Middle East region requires the acceleration of… a just, comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue.”
In his remarks, bin Farhan did not make direct references to the ongoing negotiations for a peace deal between Riyadh and Jerusalem.
Instead, the diplomat emphasized the importance of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which would include “a peace that allows [the] Palestinian people to have an independent state based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
In what appeared to be a reference to the creation and expansion of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, bin Farhan added that Saudi Arabia “rejects and condemns all the unilateral steps that constitute a flagrant violation of international law and which contribute to the collapse of regional and international peace efforts and are hindering the path of diplomatic solutions.”
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