A. Blinken: Progress has been made in the process of normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia

Blinken told a press conference in Cairo that he had a “very good discussion” with Saudi Arabia’s ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan during a visit to the Gulf kingdom on Wednesday.

During the negotiations, the main focus was on the war in the Gaza Strip and the relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia, where A. Blinken has visited three times since the war between Israel and Hamas that began on October 7.

The top U.S. diplomat said he could not say exactly when relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia would finally be normalized, but said discussions were “getting closer to the point where we will reach agreements.”

Further progress depends on how several issues are resolved, according to a senior State Department official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

According to A. Blinken, it would be “a historic opportunity for both nations and the entire region.”

Washington sought to bring Arab countries together in planning for post-war governance of the Gaza Strip and normalization of relations with Israel.

The United States, Israel’s main backer, has long sought to broker a Saudi-Israeli deal that would include US security guarantees for Riyadh.

But Riyadh is making any deal conditional on recognizing an independent Palestinian state, a possibility Israel has ruled out.

Last year, however, before the deadliest war in the Gaza Strip began, it looked as though a deal would be reached.

The deadliest war ever in Gaza began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on October 7 that killed around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, in Israel, according to an AFP assessment based on official Israeli figures.

Hamas also took about 250 hostages, of which Israel knows about 130 are still in the Gaza Strip, including 33 dead hostages.

After vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched a massive military offensive that killed nearly 32,000 people in the besieged enclave, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. people, mostly women and children.

Saudi Arabia has been highly critical of Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Riyadh has said it will not normalize ties with Israel until Israeli forces leave the Gaza Strip and a two-state solution with the Palestinians is reached.

Regional power Saudi Arabia has never recognized Israel or joined the so-called 2020 Abraham Accords, brokered by the United States, under which neighboring Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco established diplomatic ties with Israel.