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Israel announced it will not cooperate with a planned visit by ministers to the occupied West Bank, blocking what would have been the first visit by a Saudi foreign minister to the Palestinian territory since 1967.
The delegation, led by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, was scheduled to meet with top Palestinian officials in Ramallah on June 1 as part of international efforts to advance Palestinian statehood.
"The Palestinian Authority—which to this day refuses to condemn the October 7 massacre—intended to host in Ramallah a provocative meeting of foreign ministers from Arab countries to discuss the promotion of the establishment of a Palestinian state," an Israeli official said late Friday.
The planned ministerial visit comes ahead of an international conference co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, scheduled for June 17-20 at U.N. headquarters in New York to discuss Palestinian statehood and the two-state solution.
Palestinian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mazen Ghoneim told Saudi state-run Al-Ikhbariya television that the foreign minister would be joined by top diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, and other countries.
"The ministerial visit is considered a clear message. The Palestinian cause is a central issue to Arabs and Muslims," Ghoneim stated.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan was set to become the first Saudi foreign minister to visit the West Bank since Israel's 1967 occupation, according to diplomatic sources who spoke to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The Saudi-run Al-Arabiya television reported that Prince Faisal would lead the Arab-Islamic ministerial committee, tasked with mobilizing international efforts to end the Israeli war on Gaza and create political horizons for ending Israeli occupation.
CNN reported that ministers from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Türkiye were also planned to participate in the Ramallah meeting.
The Israeli official characterized the proposed meeting as harmful to Israeli security interests, stating: "Such a state would undoubtedly become a terrorist state in the heart of the Land of Israel. Israel will not cooperate with such moves aimed at harming it and its security."
Israel controls the Palestinian territory's borders and airspace, meaning its approval is required for the diplomats to enter the West Bank from Jordan.
A Palestinian Authority official indicated that whether the Ramallah meeting would proceed remained under discussion following Israel's refusal to cooperate.
The blocked visit follows Israel's announcement this week of 22 new West Bank settlements, which are regularly condemned by the United Nations as illegal under international law and viewed as major obstacles to lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace.
On Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz visited one of the areas designated for recognition and vowed to build a "Jewish Israeli state" in the West Bank.
Taking aim at foreign countries that would "recognise a Palestinian state on paper," Katz added: "The paper will be thrown into the trash bin of history, and the State of Israel will flourish and prosper."
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