Saudi FM to make landmark visit to occupied West Bank

Prince Faisal bin Farhan will become the first Saudi foreign minister to visit the occupied West Bank on Sunday, a diplomatic source told AFP, as the Gaza war drags on and Riyadh pushes for Palestinian statehood.

The Saudi top diplomat will lead a delegation to Ramallah, a Palestinian embassy source said, the first such trip since Israel first occupied the Palestinian territory in 1967.

Prince Faisal's trip was revealed as Israel vowed to build a "Jewish Israeli state" in the West Bank, after doubling down on plans to expand settlements there.

"A ministerial delegation led by the minister of foreign affairs will go to Ramallah on Sunday," the embassy source told AFP.

Saudi Arabia sent a lower-level delegation to Ramallah in September 2023, its first since 1967, not long before Hamas' October 7 attack triggered the Gaza war.

International backlash has been growing since Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza in March, with a humanitarian crisis spiraling and the U.N. warning of famine throughout the territory.

Next month, Saudi Arabia and France will co-chair an international conference meant to resurrect the two-state solution at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Nearly 150 countries recognize the State of Palestine, which has observer status at the U.N. but is not a full member as the Security Council has not voted to admit it.

In May 2024, Ireland, Norway and Spain took the step of recognizing a Palestinian state, but other European governments, including France, have not.

President Emmanuel Macron said in April that France could recognize a Palestinian state in June.

Macron said at the time that he wished to organize the New York conference to encourage recognition of the State of Palestine, "but also a recognition of Israel from states that currently do not".

Saudi Arabia, the home of Islam's holiest sites and the world's biggest oil exporter, was said to be close to recognizing Israel before the start of the Gaza war.

U.S. President Donald Trump, during a visit to Riyadh this month, called Saudi normalization with Israel "my fervent hope and wish, and even my dream".

"You'll do it in your own time, and that's what I want, that's what you want," he said.

Last September, de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stated clearly that Saudi Arabia would not recognize Israel without an independent Palestinian state.

This position was reaffirmed in November at a joint Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit where Israel was accused of "genocide" in Gaza.

On Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to build a "Jewish Israeli state" in the occupied West Bank, a day after the government announced the creation of 22 new settlements there.