By Anadolu staff
ISTANBUL (AA) - Egypt and Saudi Arabia on Thursday discussed ways to continue rallying support for recognizing the State of Palestine and ending Israel’s genocide in Gaza, according to a statement from Egypt’s Foreign Ministry.
The talks in Riyadh between Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, came a month after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met in the Saudi city of Neom to boost their countries’ strategic partnership.
The ministers stressed the need to keep building international momentum for broader recognition of a Palestinian state. They also reviewed arrangements for an international conference scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority Deputy Prime Minister Hussein al-Sheikh met with French Consul General in Palestine Nicolas Kassianides to discuss efforts to ensure the success of the conference.
The meeting in Ramallah addressed “developments related to French-Saudi joint efforts to hold the international conference on recognition of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders,” the statement said.
Al-Sheikh emphasized the importance of intensifying international efforts to guarantee the success of the conference, calling it a political turning point to advance recognition of the Palestinian people’s right to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. He stressed that French and Saudi support was a key driver toward achieving that goal.
On Sept. 12, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution endorsing the “New York Declaration” aimed at “recognizing the State of Palestine and advancing a two-state solution to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question.”
The resolution, officially titled “New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and Implementation of the Two-State Solution,” was introduced by France and Saudi Arabia and passed with 142 votes in favor, 10 against and 12 abstentions, according to the UN.
Between July 28 and 30, New York hosted a “Two-State Solution Conference” chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, with high-level participation that included Palestine but excluded the US.
The conference issued the “New York Declaration,” calling for recognition of Palestine, granting it full UN membership instead of its current observer state status since 2012.
The declaration also called for “joint action to end the war in Gaza and reach a just, peaceful and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the effective implementation of the two-state solution, and to build a better future for Palestinians, Israelis and all peoples of the region.”
Several countries, including Britain, France, Australia and Canada, have recently signaled their intention to recognize Palestine during the UN meetings.
Out of 193 UN member states, at least 149 already recognize Palestine.