The establishment of a Palestinian state “is a firm and unshakable position,” says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Arformance, rejecting the ethnic cleaning of Trump of the Palestinians of Gaza.
Saudi Arabia reacted quickly and severely to the commitment of the American president Donald Trump to “take over” of the Gaza Strip, not reiterating any standardization agreement with Israel until the Palestinians receive their own independent state .
“The creation of the Palestinian State is a firm and unshakable position,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday in a long press release on X.
“His Highness (Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman) confirmed this position in a clear and explicit way which does not allow any interpretation under any circumstances.
“His Highness stressed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not stop its tireless work towards the creation of an independent Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as capital, and the Kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without it. »»
Trump said on Tuesday that the United States would take control of the enclave ravaged by the war after the Palestinians are reinstalled elsewhere and develop it economically in the “Middle East Riviera”. He was speaking during a joint press conference with the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump’s move contradicts many Saudi statements over the years, stressing the kingdom’s commitment to the initiative of Arab peace, which proposes diplomatic recognition of Israel to the state of a Palestinian state.
‘Too early to talk about it
Other Arab nations reacted with uncomfortable declarations of Trump.
The Jordan Royal Court said in a press release: “His Majesty King Abdullah II underlines the need to put an end to the (Israeli) expansion of the regulation, expressing the rejection of any attempt to annex land and move the Palestinians. “
A manager of Qatari said that he was far too early to discuss who should control Gaza with a fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel still at his preliminary stages.
“We know that there are a lot of trauma with the Palestinian side in terms of travel. However, once again, it is too early to talk about it, because we do not know how this war will end, “said Majed Al-Ansari.
Qatar is a key mediator of the trembling truce of Gaza, which is supposed to enter its second phase soon. Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani will meet Trump’s Middle East, Steve Witkoff, Florida to discuss the next steps on Thursday.
A longtime taboo
A smiling Netanyahu said on Tuesday answering questions at the joint press conference that “normalization with Arabia would soon come and shock people”.
However, the declaration of the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanding a free Palestine before such an agreement is unambiguous.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stresses that this unshakable position is not negotiable and is not subject to compromises. To reach a lasting and just peace is impossible without the Palestinian people obtaining their legitimate rights, “he said.
The United States has led months of diplomacy to ensure that Saudi Arabia – one of the most powerful and influential Arab states – to normalize links with Israel and to recognize the country.
But the Gaza War, which began in October 2023, led Riyadh to put aside the effort in the face of the deep Arab anger on the implacable attacks of Israel and civil carnage.
Trump would like Saudi Arabia to follow traces of countries such as the United Arab Emirates, a shopping center and Middle East affairs, and Bahrain, which signed the so-called Abraham agreements in 2020 and normalized links with Israel.
In doing so, they have become the first Arab states of a quarter of a century to break a longtime taboo.
The establishment of links with Saudi Arabia would be a great prize for Israel because the kingdom has a great influence in the Middle East and in the wider Muslim world, and is the largest oil exporter in the world.
“Saudi Arabia has a key role to play”
Al Jazera’s superior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, said the key nation concerning the fate of Palestine was undoubtedly Saudi Arabia.
“There is no country that will have more words to say in what is happening in Israel and Palestine in the future than Saudi Arabia. And there is no country that Israel wants to normalize relations with more than Saudi Arabia, “he said.
An Israeli analyst wondered if the words are as strong as acts with regard to Saudi Arabia’s commitment to Palestinian sovereignty.
“The key question is whether Saudi Arabia will condition its agreement with the United States and standardization with Israel to abandon this plan, not only by saying that they support the right of Palestinians to self-determination,” said Menachem Klein, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, said in Tel Aviv Tribune.
Bishara has also noted that the style of leadership of Trump is that of a real estate magnate, and its Gaza comments could be the salvo of opening in a negotiation process, rather than a new policy to expel the population Palestinian of their territory against war.
“The calculation would be: ‘OK, you do not want me to clean the Palestinians ethically, don’t you want me to send American forces to expel them and take control of this land? Ok, I won’t do these things, but what are you going to give me back? “, He said.
“I think you will see in the coming weeks – when Trump starts to descend the tree, when things are unleashed – he will tell the Saudis” that you must present yourself and stop making conditions on the Palestinian state “” , added Bishara.
“Saudi Arabia has a key role to play, Trump has his eyes on it. But for the moment, Saudi Arabia is firmly. »»