Palestinian-Saudi officials discuss preparations for Arab Summit in Cairo next week

By Qais Abu Samra and Ikram Kouachi

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Hussein Sheikh, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Riyadh to discuss preparations for the Arab Summit next week.

In a statement issued on Friday, PLO Executive Committee Secretary-General Hussein Sheikh confirmed that Prince Faisal and Saudi Minister of State Musaad al-Aiban, as well as Majdi Khaldi, the Palestinian president's political adviser, met late Thursday.

The discussions centered around the latest developments and preparations for the Arab summit, which is scheduled for March 4 in Egypt, the statement said.

The summit, to be hosted in Cairo, is aimed at “forging a unified Arab stance on the Palestinian issue and countering US proposals concerning the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.”

Sheikh praised Saudi Arabia's “continued support for Palestinian rights, particularly its efforts to ensure the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

The discussions will take place amid rising tensions in the West Bank. The Israeli army has been conducting offensives in the northern West Bank since last month, killing at least 64 people and displacing thousands.

On Sunday evening, Israeli tanks entered the Jenin refugee camp in a military escalation not seen since 2002.

Palestinian authorities have warned that the continued military offensive is part of a broader plan by Netanyahu’s government to annex the West Bank and declare sovereignty over it, which could officially mark the end of the two-state solution.

The raids were the latest in the military escalation in the West Bank, where at least 927 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the onslaught against the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The International Court of Justice declared in July that Israel’s long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories is "unlawful," demanding the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.