Saudi Arabia stopped talking about becoming friends with Israel for now. They did this because there is a big fight going on between Israel and a group called Hamas.
Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, causing a lot of casualties. Israel fought back, and many people have been hurt in the Gaza Strip. Saudi Arabia has stopped talking about becoming friends with Israel for now. They told American officials about this decision. Saudi Arabia, which has very important religious places, has never accepted Israel. Unlike its nearby countries like Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco, Saudi Arabia didn’t make friends with Israel in the 2020 deal brokered by the US. Recently, US President Joe Biden’s team really wanted Saudi Arabia to do the same thing.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, who is like the main leader in Saudi Arabia, had set some conditions for becoming friends with Israel. These conditions included promises of safety from the United States and help with making nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
MBS mentioned in an interview with Fox News last month that they were getting closer to making a deal every day. However, he also said that taking care of the Palestinian issue was really important for Saudi Arabia. He said they needed to find a solution and make life easier for the Palestinians.
Now, there’s news that the talks about becoming friends with Israel are stopped. This news comes right before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is going to meet with his Saudi counterpart. He’s visiting six different countries in the area.
In the week since Hamas attacked Israel, Saudi Arabia has been getting more and more worried about what’s happening to the Palestinians in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas. Israel has been doing a lot of attacks, and they told people in the north of Gaza to leave, which made thousands of them run away.
Saudi Arabia has been trying to reach out diplomatically to stop the situation from getting worse. They’ve been talking to leaders in the area and even outside of it.
On Thursday, Saudi state media said that MBS talked with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi about what’s happening in Gaza and the nearby areas. This was the first time they spoke since their countries decided to try and be friends again with the help of China, which was a surprise in March after not talking for seven years.
Then, on Friday, Saudi Arabia strongly criticized Israel for making Palestinians leave their homes in Gaza and for hurting innocent people. This is the most forceful language they’ve used against Israel since the war started.
The Saudi foreign ministry said, “We want to make it very clear that we absolutely do not agree with making the Palestinian people leave Gaza. We strongly condemn hurting innocent people there.
CREDIT:FRANCE24