RIYADH: There can be no normalization of ties with Israel without resolving the Palestinian issue, 海角直播鈥檚 foreign minister told CNN in an interview aired on Sunday.
Asked if there could be no normal ties without a path to a credible and irreversible Palestinian state, Prince Faisal bin Farhan told CNN: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the only way we鈥檙e going to get a benefit. So, yes, because we need stability and only stability will come through聽resolving the Palestinian issue.鈥澛
Prince Faisal said the only way for the region to see true peace and real integration that delivers economic and social benefits to the Middle East is 鈥渢hrough peace, through a credible, irreversible process to a Palestinian state.鈥
鈥淲e are fully ready, not just as 海角直播, but as Arab countries, to engage in that conversation. I would hope that the Israelis would be as well, but it鈥檚 up to them to make that decision,鈥 the foreign minister said.聽
Speaking about Houthi聽attacks on ships in and around the Red Sea for the past several weeks, the minister said the Kingdom believed in freedom of navigation and wanted tensions in the region to be de-escalated.
鈥淲e of course, believe very much in the freedom of navigation. And that鈥檚 something that needs to be protected. But we also need to protect the security and stability of the region. So we are very focused on de-escalating the situation as much as possible,鈥 he told CNN.
Halting civilian deaths is another key focus of 海角直播, the minister said.
鈥淲hat we are seeing is the Israelis are crushing Gaza, the civilian population of Gaza. This is completely unnecessary, completely unacceptable and has to stop,鈥 he said.
The local health ministry in Gaza says more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 62,000 wounded in Israel鈥檚 assault on the region since an Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.
The foreign minister鈥檚 remarks were part of an interview originally taped on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum held last week in Davos, Switzerland, and aired Sunday on CNN.
