LAST UPDATE | 31 May 2025

ISRAEL WILL NOT cooperate with a visit to the West Bank in Palestine by five Arab foreign ministers, an official has said, a move since condemned in a joint statement by the Arab representatives. 

It was reported yesterday that Prince Faisal bin Farhan would become the first Saudi foreign minister to visit the occupied West Bank tomorrow, as the Israeli war on Gaza continues and Saudi Arabia pushes for Palestinian statehood.

The official said Israel would not facilitate efforts to establish Palestinian statehood, which they said were aimed at “harming” Israel “and its security.”

The five Arab ministers have condemned “Israel’s decision to ban the delegation’s visit to Ramallah to meet with the president of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas”, the Jordanian foreign ministry said.

Ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had been expected to take part alongside Turkey and the secretary-general of the Arab League.

Israel maintains an illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory’s borders and airspace, meaning its approval would be needed for the diplomats to enter. In February, Israel denied an EU diplomatic delegation entry to the country while en route to the West Bank.

Farhan’s visit, if it goes ahead, would be the first such trip since Israel first occupied the Palestinian territory in 1967.

Saudi Arabia sent a lower-level delegation to Ramallah in September 2023, its first since 1967, not long before Hamas’s 7 October attack triggered the Gaza war.

The news of Farhan’s planned visit came a day after Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the occupied West Bank.

Katz’s declaration followed the announcement that Israel would create 22 new illegal settlements there.

An Israeli official said today that “The Palestinian Authority – which to this day refuses to condemn the 7 October massacre – intended to host in Ramallah a provocative meeting of foreign ministers from Arab countries to discuss the promotion of the establishment of a Palestinian state”.

President Abbas said on 16 October 2023 that Hamas’ actions “do not represent the Palestinian people”. 

“Such a state would undoubtedly become a terrorist state in the heart of the Land of Israel,” the Israeli official said.

“Israel will not cooperate with such moves aimed at harming it and its security.”

Those comments echo language from members of the government who have said a Palestinian state would represent an existential threat to Israel. 

In June, Saudi Arabia and France will co-chair an international conference at UN headquarters meant to resurrect the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

France does not recognise Palestine.

Saudi Arabia was said to have been close to recognising Israel before the start of the Gaza war, and US President Donald Trump, during a recent visit to Riyadh, called normalisation between the countries “my fervent hope and wish”.

But Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said Saudi Arabia will not recognise Israel without an independent Palestinian state.

Under international law, all Israeli colonies (settlements) in Palestine are illegal but the government has ramped up their construction and expansion during the war in Gaza.

Most nations of the world recognise Palestinian statehood, with the majority of those who not being located in the West. 

In May 2024, Ireland and a small number of other European countries recognised Palestine as a state, which led to furious rebukes from Israel.

With reporting from AFP 

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