Israel blocks planned visit by Arab foreign ministers to Ramallah: Report

JERUSALEM / ANKARA

Israeli officials have confirmed that Tel Aviv prevented a scheduled visit by a delegation of Arab foreign ministers to Ramallah, where they intended to discuss support for the establishment of a Palestinian state, according to the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

“The planned meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Ramallah to promote the creation of a Palestinian state is unacceptable,” the daily quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying.

“Israel will not participate in any steps aimed at harming its security,” the official added.

On Friday, Ahmad Majdalani, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, told Anadolu that a delegation of Arab ministers was expected to arrive in Ramallah on Sunday.

The delegation includes the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The visit, which had been postponed from an earlier date, was set to deliver a message of political support to the Palestinian leadership.

According to Majdalani, the visit was to include a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other senior officials. It also aimed to express Arab and Muslim countries’ opposition to Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank.

The delegation, part of a ministerial committee formed at the Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh, is also preparing for an international peace conference scheduled to take place in mid-June in New York, co-led by Saudi Arabia and France. The conference is expected to focus on reviving efforts toward a two-state solution.

Since the start of the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, at least 972 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The International Court of Justice declared last July that Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.