Ƶ working for development and regional peace

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The image spoke louder than words when the camera captured the Saudi delegation at last month’s UN General Assembly in New York standing joyfully, smiling and applauding the moment the UK and a number of other countries announced their recognition of the Palestinian state, a pivotal moment in history.
This Saudi joy is understood to be only the beginning of the road and that a journey of hard work awaits Riyadh and all the capitals that support the two-state solution. Yet this scene clearly points to Saudi vitality, internally and externally, and to the spirit launched by Vision 2030, which has been a driving force that has changed many methods of political work and systems of thought, built alliances and linked development at home with stability and a diversification of relations abroad.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, in his speech before the UN, explicitly held Israel responsible for the violations affecting Palestinian civilians, calling on the international community to fulfill its responsibilities and urging intensified work toward the two-state solution as the only path to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East. Israel’s continued rejection of the Palestinians’ legitimate rights will cause the cycle of violence to repeat, even if the Gaza war stops now, because lasting peace has practical requirements that cannot be bypassed, the most important of which is giving the Palestinians their state.
Prince Faisal welcomed the increasing number of countries that recognize the state of Palestine. This announcement clearly indicates that Saudi diplomacy, in its cumulative work since Oct. 7, 2023, has managed to gather international public opinion and direct it toward the peace project, despite the bloody Israeli war machine and the US veto in the UN Security Council.
Riyadh pushed London to officially announce its recognition of the state of Palestine at the UNGA, affirming that this decision aims to “save the prospect of the two-state solution” and support peace. The UK was joined on this path by Paris and a group of other important European capitals. Thus, Ƶ was able to create an international pressure mechanism that does not make peace hostage to a single party; rather, it liberated it, albeit relatively, from the pressures of the US.

The political leadership recognizes that development cannot be sustained in a turbulent regional environment.

Washington later announced President Donald Trump’s plan to stop the war in Gaza, which has now been approved by the Hamas movement in a statement welcomed by the US president. Trump also thanked the Kingdom for its efforts toward peace in the region.
Anyone observing all the above will notice the existence of at least a relative complementarity between the international recognitions of the Palestinian state and the Trump initiative, despite the presence of political and legal differences. The Arab and Islamic states that welcomed Trump’s initiative stressed the necessity of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, a ceasefire, the entry of humanitarian aid, prevention of displacement, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders.
The Saudi efforts are trying to bridge the gap between the legal-political dimension and the practical-humanitarian dimension by influencing the West to recognize the Palestinians’ right to statehood and urging the US to intensify pressure on Israel for a sustainable cessation of the war.
What is even more noteworthy is that this diplomatic movement coincided with the celebrations of Saudi National Day on Sept. 23. This appears to confirm there is a close interconnection between home and abroad and that there is a political and administrative thinking that has become the engine driving change. The political leadership recognizes that development cannot be sustained in a turbulent regional environment.
Through its foreign policy discourse, Riyadh presents itself as an influential actor capable of persuasion and as a state that cannot be bypassed in any future security or political arrangements. This role strengthens its ability to participate in shaping the final agreement in any forthcoming peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, and not merely as a financier of Gaza’s reconstruction, as the Israelis hope. The extremists in government in Israel believe they are the masters of the Middle East, a perception based on a sense of grandeur and arrogance.
Any progress in the Saudi-led peace process reduces the likelihood of renewed escalation in the future and increases the prospects of more than one party engaging in good-faith negotiations, provided there is a genuine partner for peace in Israel.
Anyone observing Saudi policy understands that the sustainability of its economic and social projects requires a stable regional environment, so that it can direct its resources toward construction and development instead of endless wars and crises. Its success in this field also grants it Arab and international trust, strengthening its leadership position in the Arab and Islamic worlds.
What has been mentioned is not only a Saudi ambition but also an interest for the different states of the region, including Israel and Iran. A just and comprehensive peace, the establishment of a Palestinian state and the building of modern, civil and strong states — far from violence, sectarianism, displacement, militias and the Israeli far right — will make historic peace possible; not impossible as it seems now.

Hassan Al-Mustafa is a Saudi writer and researcher interested in Islamic movements, the development of religious discourse, and the relationship between Gulf Cooperation Council states and Iran. X: @Halmustafa