Saudi Arabia has expressed concern regarding the war in Gaza and made it clear to the United States that it will not normalize relations with Israel until Palestine becomes independent.
The kingdom also sent a clear message that they want Palestine to be like it was before the 1967 war where East Jerusalem was a part of it. Furthermore, they want Israel to stop its aggression in the occupied Gaza Strip.
John Kirby, the spokesperson for national security at the White House, stated on Tuesday that the Biden administration has heard encouraging reports that Israel and Saudi Arabia are open to carrying on with normalization talks.
According to the Saudi Foreign Ministry, they informed U.S. officials about their unwavering stance on Palestinian issues in light of Kirby’s remarks.
Saudi Arabia and Israel have been discussing the possibility of normalizing their relationship ever since Saudi Arabia silently allowed its neighbours, the UAE, and Bahrain to form diplomatic relations with Israel since 2020 in the light of the Abraham Accord.
As the conflict between Israel and Hamas intensified in October 2023, sources close to Riyadh thought that Saudi Arabia had shelved United States-backed attempts to restore relations with Israel.
