Riyadh: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman conveyed his commitment to halting the escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian branch of Hamas.
During his meeting with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Riyadh, the crown prince underlined Saudi Arabia’s desire to intensify interactions among concerned parties and de-escalate the situation in the region.
He called for adherence to international humanitarian law, including the removal of the Gaza blockade, and creating conditions for stability and the restoration of the peace process, while respecting the legitimate rights of Palestinians.
HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with U.S. Secretary of State @SecBlinken, with whom he discussed the current military escalation in Gaza and its surroundings and the need to find ways to stop the military operations that have claimed the lives of innocent people. pic.twitter.com/lEi5bymYly
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) October 15, 2023
On the other hand, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday his meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was “very productive”,
“Very productive”, Blinken said when asked by reporters after his meeting with the Crown Prince in Riyadh.
The top US diplomat met for nearly an hour in the early morning with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the royal’s farm residence in the Riyadh area, a US official said.
Blinken “highlighted the United States’ unwavering focus on halting attacks by Hamas, securing the release of all hostages and preventing the conflict from spreading,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
“The two affirmed their shared commitment to protecting civilians and to advancing stability across the Middle East and beyond,” Miller said.
Prince Mohammed highlighted Riyadh’s diplomatic outreach “to calm the situation”, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, an effort that has involved calls to regional leaders including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
He also reiterated the Gulf kingdom’s condemnation of attacks on civilians and “vital interests that affect their daily lives”, while stressing the need for Palestinians to “obtain their legitimate rights and achieve just and lasting peace”, SPA said.
Blinken has been touring the region after Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel from the blockaded Gaza Strip on October 7 and killed 1,300 people, mostly civilians, and took about 150 hostages.
The attack sparked a massive retaliatory campaign targeting the Islamist group in Gaza that has killed more than 2,300 people.
The kingdom is the guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites, making recognition a historic coup for Israel, which in 2020 normalised relations with three other Arab states including the United Arab Emirates.
The State Department said Blinken and the crown prince also discussed Yemen, where an uneasy peace has been holding between the Saudi-backed government and Iranian-backed Huthi rebels.
They also addressed Sudan, on which the Saudis have been working with the United States to mediate between warring generals, with limited success.
