Saudi Arabia condemned Israel’s attacks on northern Gaza as genocide on Thursday, telling foreign investors that some bilateral agreements it is negotiating with Washington are “not so tied” to normalizing its relations with Israel.
Speaking at an investment conference in Riyadh, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said that Israel’s actions in the northern Gaza Strip can only be described as a form of genocide that feeds a cycle of violence.
He reiterated the kingdom’s position that it will not recognize Israel without a Palestinian state, adding in relation to the proposed step that Saudi Arabia is “quite happy to wait for the situation to be acceptable” before moving towards normalization.
“We are seeing exactly what is happening in the north (Gaza) where there is a complete blockade of any access to humanitarian goods, together with a continuous military attack without any real way for civilians to find shelter, to find safe zones, which can only be described as a form of genocide. “It is certainly against humanitarian law, international humanitarian law, and it feeds a continuing cycle of violence,” he said.
There was no immediate response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem to a request for comment.
Israel says it has continued to deliver food to Gaza and accuses the United Nations of nations that have not fed the people of Gaza.
Prince Faisal added that potential US-Saudi agreements on trade and artificial intelligence are “not tied to any third party” and “can probably move forward quite quickly.”
“Some of the more significant defense cooperation agreements are much more complicated. We would certainly welcome the opportunity to complete them before the end of the Biden administration, but that depends on other factors beyond our control. The other work streams are not as interconnected, and some of them are moving quite quickly and we hope to see progress,” the Saudi minister said, Reuters reports.
