It’s time to recognize Palestinian state: Saudi’s Prince Faisal

Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Tuesday, March 5, said that the time has come to recognize the Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The remarks came during an extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to discuss the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.

In his presidential speech, Prince Faisal warned against the potential harm caused by Israeli military operations in Rafah, stating that such actions would exacerbate suffering for the defenseless civilians in the Gaza Strip.

“We saw a positive development in the positions of some countries and an understanding of the scale of the disaster, and we saw an increase in the number of countries calling for an immediate ceasefire. We also heard from a number of countries about their readiness in principle to recognize the State of Palestine. In this regard, we direct our message to those countries that the time has come to make their decision to recognize the State of Palestine, and to continue pressure on Israel to stop the war in Gaza and accept the two-state solution,” he said.

He added that the international community remains helpless in Gaza’s human rights violations, pointing out that imposing sanctions against extremist settlers in the West Bank is a positive thing.

He also stressed the need to hold accountable those responsible for the violence in the West Bank.

In addition, Prince Faisal pledged the Kingdom’s continued support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), adding that targeting the agency exacerbates the suffering of the Palestinian people.

He called on the countries that suspended their support for UNRWA to reverse their decision.

Several countries halted their financial support for UNRWA due to Israeli accusations that agency employees were involved in the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

Since October 7, Israeli aggression in Gaza has resulted in a humanitarian and health catastrophe, with 30,631 deaths and 72,043 injured, while international efforts aim to establish a ceasefire before Ramzan.