Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said on Thursday the kingdom would provide $90 million in direct funding to the Palestinian Authority as part of a newly launched international coalition to support it, reiterating there would be no normalization with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan announced the initiative at a press conference in New York following a high-level ministerial meeting of the “Global Coalition to Implement the Two-State Solution.”
The meeting, chaired by Saudi Arabia on behalf of the Arab-Islamic Committee on Gaza and co-hosted with the European Union and Norway, was held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
The minister said the gathering followed the UN’s adoption of the “New York Declaration,” which he described as a historic international consensus on ending Israel’s occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state.
According to Prince Faisal, this process also coincides with growing recognition of Palestine, with 159 countries now acknowledging its statehood, representing the overwhelming majority of UN members.
This affirms that the realization of a Palestinian state has become an irreversible fact backed by growing international will, said the top Saudi diplomat.
He said the coalition’s discussions focused on turning the declaration and the wave of recognitions into an actionable plan with a clear timetable and follow-up mechanisms.
Priorities included an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, ensuring territorial unity between the West Bank and Gaza, and enabling the Palestinian Authority to assume full responsibilities.
Saudi Arabia reaffirmed that, based on its Arab, Islamic and international responsibilities, it will continue working with partners to ensure this process leads to a just and lasting peace, and to regional and international security and stability, he said.
Prince Faisal added that Arab and Islamic states had also conveyed to US President Donald Trump during a meeting in New York this week the risks of Israel annexing the West Bank.
Ending the war in Gaza will pave the way for implementing the two-state solution, and we are engaging with the United States to stop it, he said.
He stressed that a two-state solution remained the only path to revive hope for peace and was achievable.
Prince Faisal underlined the need for a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel and hoped that this will be realized in the near future.
