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Saudi Arabia Pledges $150 Million at Global Vaccine Summit

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan attends the virtual summit. Saudi Foreign Ministry Twitter account
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan attends the virtual summit. Saudi Foreign Ministry Twitter account
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Saudi Arabia Pledges $150 Million at Global Vaccine Summit

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan attends the virtual summit. Saudi Foreign Ministry Twitter account
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan attends the virtual summit. Saudi Foreign Ministry Twitter account

Saudi Arabia pledged on Thursday $150 million to the GAVI vaccine alliance, a public-private global health partnership.

During an extraordinary virtual G20 summit on coronavirus that it chaired in March, Saudi Arabia announced that it would contribute $500 million to international efforts to fight the pandemic.

Of that amount, $150 million would be allocated to GAVI, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a vaccine summit hosted by the British government.

The summit, held virtually in London, aims to raise at least $7.4 billion for GAVI to immunize a further 300 million children in the world's poorest countries by 2025 against diseases such as malaria, polio, diphtheria and measles.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reaffirms its support for the noble work GAVI carries out in protecting human lives,” Prince Faisal said on his Twitter account.

“I was honored to represent the Kingdom at today’s vaccine summit and to announce the allocation of US$150 million to support the great efforts of the alliance,” he added.

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Qatar PM Says Gaza Ceasefire Talks Make Some Progress

FILE PHOTO: The minaret of the Great Omari Mosque, which was hit in previous Israeli strike during the war, stands damaged in Gaza City, March 17, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The minaret of the Great Omari Mosque, which was hit in previous Israeli strike during the war, stands damaged in Gaza City, March 17, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo
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Qatar PM Says Gaza Ceasefire Talks Make Some Progress

FILE PHOTO: The minaret of the Great Omari Mosque, which was hit in previous Israeli strike during the war, stands damaged in Gaza City, March 17, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The minaret of the Great Omari Mosque, which was hit in previous Israeli strike during the war, stands damaged in Gaza City, March 17, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo

Qatar's prime minister said on Sunday that efforts to reach a new ceasefire in Gaza have made some progress but an agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the war remains elusive.

"We have seen on Thursday a bit of progress compared to other meetings yet we need to find an answer for the ultimate question: how to end this war. That's the key point of the entire negotiations," said Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as foreign minister, Reuters reported.

Mossad Director David Barnea traveled to Doha on Thursday to meet Sheikh Mohammed amid efforts to reach a new ceasefire in Gaza, Axios reported last week.

Sheikh Mohammed didn't say which elements of the ceasefire talks had progressed in recent days, but said Hamas and Israel remained at odds over the ultimate goal of negotiations.

He said the militant group is willing to return all remaining Israeli hostages if Israel ends the war in Gaza. But Israel wants Hamas to release the remaining hostages without offering a clear vision on ending the war, he said.

"When you don't have a common objective, a common goal between the parties, I believe the opportunities (to end the war) become very thin," Sheikh Mohammed said at a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Fidan said talks Turkish officials have held with Hamas had shown the group would be more open to an agreement that goes beyond a ceasefire in Gaza and aims for a lasting solution to the crisis with Israel, including a two-state solution.

Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a January ceasefire collapsed, saying it would keep up pressure on Hamas until it frees the remaining hostages still held in the enclave. Up to 24 of them are believed to still be alive.

The Gaza war started after Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack. Since then, Israel's offensive on the enclave killed more than 51,400, according to local health officials.