Saudi Arabia launches coalition to push for Palestinian statehood

Saudi Arabia launched a new international coalition for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict on Thursday, after years of failed US-led peace efforts.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud announced the formation of the 'Global Alliance' of Arab and European nations at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, saying its goal will be to implement a two-state solution.

The launch included diplomats from the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the European Union, and UN member states.

The announcement comes amid growing calls for a ceasefire in the Middle East following the latest Israeli air strikes in Lebanon which have killed over 700 people since Monday, displaced thousands, and prompted fears of a major regional war.

Israel's brutal 12-month war in Gaza has reignited international efforts to push for the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state. Earlier this year, Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognised the State of Palestine in a historic move from European nations.

Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammed Mustafa, Turkish deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, and Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide were some of the representatives at the meeting on Thursday.

Norway has played a key role in previous Arab Israeli peace deals, notably the Oslo Accords in 1993 and 1995. The agreement, which saw Washington broker a deal between Palestine Liberation Organization head Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, was widely regarded among Palestinians as a failure that granted Israel authority to control large portions of the occupied West Bank.

"Today, we convened to propose a Global Alliance for the implementation of the two-state solution, with a focus on establishing the Palestinian state," bin Farhan Al-Saud said after the meeting on Thursday.

"We will make every effort to achieve a reliable and irreversible plan for just and comprehensive peace."

Saudi Arabia has said it would not consider normalising ties with Israel - as desired by US and Israeli officials - unless it guaranteed the establishment of a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Israeli government earlier this year unanimously rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state in a parliamentary vote and Prime Minister Netanyahu has said it would only serve to "reward Hamas".

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed and injured more than 130,000 Palestinians and triggered a major humanitarian crisis with widespread displacement, hunger, and disease.

The first follow-up meetings of the Global Alliance will be held in Riyadh, Brussels, Cairo, Amman, Ankara and Oslo. It marks the first collective action from the international community since the Oslo Accords to attempt to bring about solutions to the decades-old conflict.

Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden said that a two-state solution was the "only way" to resolve the conflict. Washington continues to support Israel despite its internationally-recognised illegal occupation of Palestinian land in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, regarded as the main barrier to forming Palestinian sovereignty.

In a meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on Monday in Washington, the two leaders said that the two-state solution was the "only way" to resolve the conflict.