Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has stressed the unity of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference, saying such unity would not be achieved without “stability in Gaza.”
Prince Faisal said on Friday Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire agreement were “ongoing,” noting that the greater concern is not only the continuation of fighting, but that death has not stopped even during periods when gunfire has subsided.
He added that the delivery of humanitarian aid remains a major challenge.
The minister pointed to a gap between political commitments and realities on the ground, saying that understandings are not always translated into action.
Nevertheless, he said engagement was continuing to address outstanding issues, whether related to ceasefire violations or to opening channels for humanitarian access.
His remarks came during a session titled Breaking Point: The International Order Between Reform and Destruction.
Alongside Prince Faisal, the panel also included Colombia’s Minister of Defense Pedro Arnulfo Sanchez Suarez, US Permanent Representative to the UN Michael Waltz, and the EU’s foreign affairs chief and vice president of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas.
Right to self-determination
Prince Faisal said that when the UN resolution establishing the “Board of Peace” was adopted, it was clear that it included explicit language affirming the right of the Palestinians to self-determination.
He said the Kingdom, alongside the countries that signed the resolution and those that agreed to join the council, viewed the step as a milestone on the path toward Palestinian self-determination.
He stressed that the immediate priority must be to stop the loss of life in Gaza, stabilize the situation, begin reconstruction, and build confidence that the enclave no longer poses a threat to its neighbors, paving the way to address Palestinian rights.
Any genuine approach to Palestinian rights must be comprehensive, including Palestinians in the West Bank, he said, describing the preservation of “the unity of Gaza and the West Bank” as essential.
That unity cannot be maintained without stability in Gaza, he added, noting that it is difficult to connect or build on a political track amid chaos.
Prince Faisal said efforts were ongoing, with upcoming meetings to follow up on progress, stressing that achieving stability is a continuous, daily endeavor.
Clear political messaging now requires focusing on tangibly improving the lives of Palestinians in Gaza, he said, opening the door to a path that would allow Palestinians and Israelis to live side by side in peace and harmony.
Shifts in the global order
Beyond the Palestinian issue, the session addressed shifts in the international system and the effectiveness of multilateral institutions amid rising tensions, mounting security challenges, and global economic crises.
Prince Faisal said the current system was originally shaped in the context of European crises, beginning with World War I and later World War II, which led to the creation of the United Nations and laid the foundations of the present global order.
That history explains the European or transatlantic focus embedded in the system’s structure, he said.
Despite the suffering caused by multiple wars, Prince Faisal said there were grounds for cautious optimism, pointing to the prominence of debate over the failure of the international system to deliver on its intended aims.
He said the US was leading some efforts to address shortcomings in the international system, but the more significant shift lay in discussions within Europe itself.
For a long time, he said, there had been greater attachment to symbolism than to facts on the ground, an approach that, at earlier stages, hindered substantive debate about the drivers of conflicts in various regions and how to mitigate them to allow those conflicts to end.
The change in tone makes him more optimistic than last year, Prince Faisal said, as discussions are now taking place with greater candor and transparency, including with European parties that were among the strongest supporters of the old order and least willing to acknowledge that it was no longer functioning.
