Vidushi Nautiyal, Pune
On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud announced on Thursday the establishment of a global alliance advocating for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“Today, on behalf of the Arab and Islamic nations, along with our European partners, we announce the launch of the International Alliance to Implement the Two-State Solution,” said the Foreign Minister. “We invite you to join this initiative,” he said to a ministerial meeting regarding the Palestinian issue and peace efforts.
The Saudi state news agency has stated that several Arab and Muslim nations as well as European allies are part of the alliance, though it did not say which nations had made a commitment to join.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, stated on X that the initial gatherings would take place in Brussels and Riyadh. Earlier this year, two sources familiar with Riyadh’s stance revealed, Saudi Arabia halted the U.S.-backed plans for the kingdom to normalize relations with Israel following the outbreak of the Gaza War last October between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas.
According to bin Farhan, implementing the two-state solution is the greatest way to end the cycle of pain and war and establish a new reality in which Israel and the rest of the area enjoy security and peaceful coexistence.
According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Bin Farhan also condemned the “severe violations committed by Israeli occupying forces in the West Bank” and the “catastrophic humanitarian crisis” brought on by Israel’s war on Gaza.
He explained that these acts were a component of a larger occupation and violent extremism strategy. The Foreign Minister stated that the use of systematic torture, including sexual violence and other documented crimes, systematic destruction, forced displacement, inciting hatred, dehumanization, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war – as well as the killing of tens of thousands of civilians – could not be justified by the right to self-defense.
He was also backed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who declared that his country would not recognize Israel in the absence of a Palestinian state and denounced the “crimes of the Israeli occupation” against the Palestinian people last week.