Saudi Arabia has suspended talks on potentially normalising ties with Israel, a source told AFP on Saturday, amid the conflict raging between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.
Hamas launched a large-scale offensive on Israel on October 7 which killed 1,300 people, sparking a retaliatory bombing campaign that has killed at least 2,215 in the Gaza Strip ahead of a potential Israeli ground invasion of the territory.
A retaliatory bombing campaign has killed at least 2,215 in the Gaza Strip after Hamas launched a large-scale offensive on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,300 Israelis.
The threat of a potential Israeli ground invasion looms as the military has told more than one million residents of northern Gaza to leave for the south of the blockaded territory.
“Saudi Arabia has decided to pause discussion on possible normalisation and has informed US officials,” a source familiar with the discussions told AFP.
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The news came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was about to meet with his Saudi counterpart on Saturday, the latest stop on a six-nation tour of the region.
The Gulf kingdom, home to the holiest sites in Islam, has never recognised Israel and did not join the 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords that saw its Gulf neighbours Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as well as Morocco establish formal ties with Israel.
US President Joe Biden’s administration had been pushing hard in recent months for Saudi Arabia to take the same step.
Under de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, son of the ageing King Salman, Riyadh had laid out conditions for normalisation including security guarantees from Washington and help in developing a civilian nuclear programme.
