Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, on Monday evening to discuss an Israeli “ceasefire” against the Hamas terrorist organization and “greater integration” in the Middle East.
Multiple reports suggested that Blinken and bin Salman, widely considered the de facto ruler of the kingdom, discussed plans in which Saudi Arabia would normalize its diplomatic relations with Israel in exchange for a major security agreement with the United States and forcing Israel to recognize a “Palestinian state,” presumably governed by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
Fatah, the political party associated with the Palestinian Authority, held talks recently with the Hamas terror gang in charge of Gaza in Beijing, the Chinese Communist Party confirmed on Tuesday, to discuss a potential “unity government.” Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas would potentially mean that any Palestinian state established could have Hamas terrorists among its senior officials.
Israel declared war on Hamas on October 8, the day after a mob of Hamas terrorists invaded the country and engaged in indiscriminate violence against the civilian population. Hamas terrorists engaged in acts of gang rape – including executions of women during gang rapes – infanticide, torture, abduction, and other atrocities, killing an estimated 1,200 people and abducting 250. Israeli authorities believe that 129 hostages remain in Hamas captivity, likely in Gaza. It is unclear at press time how many of them are alive or who is holding them hostage.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (5th L) meets with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (3rd R) during his visit for The World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on April 29, 2024. (Bandar Al-Jaloud/Saudi Royal Court / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Israeli operations in Gaza are meant to neutralize Hamas and ensure that the Iran-backed terrorists cannot repeat a similar attack in the future. Much of the Arab Muslim world, despite its concerns with the threat that Iran poses to their own countries, has opposed Israel’s actions and called for an immediate ceasefire, claiming the targeting of Hamas terrorists is endangering civilians in Gaza. Saudi Arabia, as the nation home to the holiest sites in Islam, has taken on a leadership role in calling for an end to attacks on Hamas.
Blinken reportedly supported calls for a ceasefire during his meeting with Mohammed bin Salman.
“The Secretary underscored the importance of sustaining the increase in humanitarian assistance to Gaza, reaching an immediate ceasefire in Gaza that secures the release of hostages, and preventing further spread of the conflict,” the State Department said in a readout of the meeting.
The State Department did not specifically mention any agreement between Riyadh and Jerusalem to normalize relations, but did note that bin Salman and Blinken discussed “efforts to achieve lasting regional peace and security, including through greater integration among countries in the region and enhanced bilateral cooperation between the United States and Saudi Arabia.” The statement appeared to be a nod to reports that Washington is offering Saudi Arabia a security package in exchange for thawing relations with Israel.
Blinken himself wrote in a social media post that he discussed “greater integration in the Middle East” with the crown prince.
The Saudi government has remained largely silent on the meeting between the crown prince and the top diplomat at press time, aside from publishing photos of the two together.
The meeting is part of a larger Middle Eastern tour in which Blinken is expected in Jordan and Israel following his stop in Saudi Arabia. In addition to meeting with bin Salman, Blinken held a discussion with his Saudi counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, which the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported also focused on pressuring Israel into an “immediate ceasefire.”
“The two sides reviewed means to enhance relations and cooperation, the latest developments in Gaza Strip, including Rafah, stressing the need for an immediate ceasefire, and efforts to ensure the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza,” SPA reported. Rafah is the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip, where Israel has for weeks threatened an invasion to eradicate the last remaining Hamas terror hubs but has faced fierce resistance from the administration of leftist President Joe Biden.
Blinken also spoke at an ongoing meeting of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh and hinted at the Saudi government being close to accepting a deal to normalize ties to Israel.
“The work that Saudi Arabia, the United States have been doing together in terms of our own agreements, I think, is potentially very close to completion,” Blinken said, according to the Agence France-Presse (AFP). “But then in order to move forward with normalization, two things will be required — calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to a Palestinian state.”
Prince Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, also reportedly confirmed that “most of the work has already been done” but that an agreement on the creation of a “Palestinian state” was “the only way it’s going to work.”
Prior to the October 7 Hamas siege, reports suggested that Riyadh was working towards a normalization agreement with Israel that would omit the demand to establish a “Palestinian state.” In September, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Fox News that he was considering such an agreement and hoped to “reach a place that it will ease the life of the Palestinians, and get Israel back as a player in the Middle East.” He did not mention the creation of a sovereign Palestinian entity.
Less than a week before the October 7 attacks, reports suggested that the Biden administration was causing strife in the negotiations, pressuring the Saudis to demand a Palestinian state in exchange for normalization despite the Saudi government apparently doing away with that issue.
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal appeared to admit that the normalization agreement was almost complete before October 7 in comments in January.
“I think before October 7, we were making very, very good progress. It’s hard for me to describe how close we were. It’s something I can’t really quantify,” he said. “We were working towards the Palestinian issue — which was key for us as well — but we were making good progress.”
An anonymous alleged Saudi official told the Israeli public broadcasting outlet Kan in mid-April that Iran, which funds Hamas, “engineered the war in Gaza to destroy the progress in relations” between Saudi Arabia and Israel.