Source: United Nations (video statements)
Joint Press Encounter by Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Espen Barth Eide, Foreign Minister of Norway, along with Christophe Bigot, EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process.
Following a meeting between representatives of Arab and Muslim states with United States President Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud today (25 Sept) said he feels “confident that President Trump understood the position of the Arab and Muslim countries. And I think the president of the US understands very well the risks and dangers of annexation in the West Bank.”
Speaking to reporters flanked by the Foreign Ministers of Spain, Norway and other countries, Al Saud said, “the US proposals focus on finding an end to the war in Gaza, which obviously needs to be immediate priority, and we are very engaged with the US and we are very grateful that the US is focused on ending the war in Gaza and finding an end to the suffering there.”
He said ending the war was “a prerequisite to moving forward on the issue of Palestinian statehood” and said the recently adopted New York Declaration contains “very clear and practical mechanisms to translate into a future Palestinian state in a in a way that ensures both the rights of the Palestinians, but also, for the Israelis, the security that is also their right.”
The Saudi Minister said, “the Arab and Muslim countries made very clear to the President the danger of annexation of any type in the West Bank, and the risk that poses not just to the potential of peace in Gaza, but also to any sustainable peace at all.”
He also made clear that “there cannot be a process of normalisation between the Kingdom and Israel without a Palestinian state.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, José Manuel Albares, for his part said, “we have to support financially our partner for peace. Hamas is not a partner for peace. The Palestinian National Authority is. And Israel is trying to make the collapse financially of the Palestinian National Authority. That’s why yesterday I announced that Spain will disburse 50 million Euros for the Palestinian National Authority.”
Asked about Spain’s support for the humanitarian flotilla that is currently navigating towards Gaza, Albares said, “the people that goes in those boats and the Spanish citizens that are in those boats are peaceful people with a humanitarian objective that are no threat to anyone. They are no threat to Israel, to the Israeli people, to the security of Israel. They are using their right under international law to navigate on free waters, and I prevent anyone that wants to harm them, that they will be held accountable for their actions.”
Asked about Gaza’s reconstruction, Al Saud said, “it is unacceptable that we come to the international community to ask them to come together to rebuild Gaza when it was destroyed by Israel, only for the potential of the situation on the ground to exist where this could all happen again. So, I think it’s absolutely critical, hand-in-hand with the immediate relief of the situation in Gaza, that that reconstruction be ensured to be sustainable, that we do it once and for all. And there again, comes in the need for a final agreement on the status of Palestine through the Palestinian state.”