Saudi foreign minister to make rare visit to West Bank, Palestinians say, as anger over Gaza grows

Saudi Arabia will send its top diplomat to the West Bank this weekend, Palestinian officials said, in what would be the highest-level Saudi visit to the area since it was occupied by Israel in 1967. Hussein Al-Sheikh, vice president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), told CNN that an Arab ministerial delegation led by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan will arrive in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday to meet PA President Mahmoud Abbas. The visit would come as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman pushes for international recognition of Palestinian statehood as the war in Gaza drags on and as prospects of Saudi-Israeli normalization grow more distant. Palestinian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mazen Ghoneim told Saudi state-run Al Ekhbariya that the Saudi foreign minister would be joined by the top diplomats from Egypt, Jordan and “other countries.” “The ministerial visit… is considered a clear message. The Palestinian cause is a central issue to Arabs and Muslims,” Ghoneim said. An Israeli source familiar with the matter told CNN that Israeli authorities were notified of the visit. CNN has reached out to the governments of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Qatar for comment. Shaul Arieli, the head of T-Politography, a think tank which studies the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said it would be the first such high-level delegation to visit the occupied West Bank since Israel seized the territory in 1967. He told CNN the visit would be “unprecedented” and underscores a rise in Saudi support for the Palestinian Authority that emerged after the start of the war in Gaza. “It’s a dramatic change,” Arieli said. The Saudis have made clear since the conflict began that “they support the two-state solution according to ’67 borders, they support the establishment of the capital of a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, and they are ready tosupport the budget of the Palestinian Authority.” CNN understands that Saudi Arabia is frustrated at Israel’s refusal to end the war in Gaza and is exerting intense diplomatic efforts to convince Western states to recognize Palestinian statehood, including the United States. The kingdom is confident that France will be among the states that will do so in June. Riyadh is also working to prop up the Palestinian Authority as it sees no viable alternative to its role as the political representative of the Palestinian people. In June, Saudi Arabia is expected to co-chair with France a high-level conference in New York for a two-state solution, which envisions the creation of a Palestinian state beside Israel. Speaking in Singapore on Friday, Macron said the eventual recognition of a Palestinian state, was “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity.” “What we are building over the coming weeks is obviously a political response to the crisis (in Gaza). And yes, it’s a necessity. Because today, over and above the current humanitarian tragedy, it is the very possibility of a Palestinian state that is being questioned.” he said. He warned that Israel has “hours or days” to improve humanitarian situation in Gaza or face “tougher” European stance. Riyadh appointed a non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories in 2023, weeks before Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel that left 1,200 people dead and triggered the ongoing war in Gaza. The ambassador, Nayef Al Sudairi visited the West Bank in September 2023 to present his credentials to Abbas in what was the highest-level official Saudi visit in decades at the time. Historically, two Saudi kings have visited Jerusalem, including King Saud in 1954, and King Faisal in 1966.