Palestinian state only pathway to Middle East security, stability: Saudi FM

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday said the formation of a Palestinian state was “the only pathway” toward security and stability in the Middle East. (Screenshot)
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Updated 18 February 2024
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Palestinian state only pathway to Middle East security, stability: Saudi FM

  • Prince Faisal was speaking at Munich Security Conference
  • Kingdom’s focus fully on securing ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war in Gaza

MUNICH: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday said the formation of a Palestinian state was “the only pathway” toward security and stability in the Middle East.

Prince Faisal was speaking at the Munich Security Conference and added that Israel’s security and stability was also dependent on the establishment of a state of Palestine.

 

 

He said the Kingdom’s focus was fully on securing a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

“We are focused on a ceasefire and on an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and we are focused on humanitarian access for the people of Gaza,” Prince Faisal said.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stated it would not open diplomatic relations with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is recognized.

Prince Faisal also said that provocative actions carried out by Israeli forces would inflame feelings in Arab and Islamic nations, especially with the death toll in Gaza approaching 30,000. He added that their actions could serve the ideologies of terrorism and extremism around the world.


Israeli military says its forces shot dead Palestinian rock-thrower in West Bank

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Israeli military says its forces shot dead Palestinian rock-thrower in West Bank

RAMALLAH: Israeli soldiers shot at three Palestinians who were throwing rocks at cars in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and killed one of them, the Israeli military said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said one person had been killed and one wounded in the incident. There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials. The Israeli military said that apart from the fatality, one other person was “neutralized” and one arrested.
A day earlier, Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian teenager who was driving a car toward them as well as a bystander at a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron.
The military initially said two “terrorists” were killed after soldiers opened fire at a car accelerating toward them, before later clarifying that only one was involved.
An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a 17-year-old was driving the car and that a 55-year-old bystander was the second person killed.
Palestinian state news agency WAFA reported that 55-year-old Ziad Naim Abu Dawood, a municipal street cleaner, was killed while working. It said another Palestinian was killed but did not report the circumstances that led the soldiers to open fire.
The Palestinian health ministry identified the teen as 17-year-old Ahmed Khalil Al-Rajabi.
The military did not report any injuries to the soldiers.
Violence has surged this year in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians have risen sharply, while the military has tightened movement restrictions and carried out sweeping raids in several cities.
Since January, 51 Palestinian minors, aged under 18, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Palestinians have also carried out attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians, some of them deadly.