Now that Qatar has announced that it will abandon mediations between Israel And Hamasanother Arab monarchy emerged as a possible replacement. Last week, Saudi Arabia brought together leaders from across the Islamic world, from Morocco to Malaysia, in what Riyadh called the second Arab-Islamic summitpreceded by a similar initiative shortly after the start of the war in Gaza.
Even if this meeting should not have major repercussions at a time when all eyes are on what the United States of America Joe Biden can achieve during his last two months in office, the event is a declaration of principles.
The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin SalmanAt the summit, he called what Israel is doing in Gaza a “genocide” for the first time, a little more than a year after his country canceled negotiations aimed at normalizing relations with Israel.
During the meeting, the another big topic on the agendain addition to the situation in Gaza and Lebanon, Iran. In recent months, a rapprochement has been reported between Riyadh and Tehran after a decades-long rivalry. At this week’s summit, Bin Salman, the country’s de facto leader, called on Israel to “refrain from attacking Iranian territory” and said Iran is a “brotherly country.”
This rapprochement between these two Middle Eastern powers, which have long supported opposing camps in the region – particularly in Syria and Yemen – is particularly sought by Riyadh. After Iran attacked several facilities Saudi oil companies In 2019, Saudi Arabia realized that it could not depend entirely on USA and should resolve problems with its Iranian neighbor.
The biggest symptom of this rapprochement appeared last year, when Tehran and Riyadh signed a diplomatic agreement. sponsored by China which stipulated the reopening of embassies.
Last Sunday, as a preamble to the summit, the chief of staff of the Saudi army visited his counterpart in Tehran Sunday to meet his Iranian counterpart and discuss defense ties for the next four years with Donald Trump as US president.
Although Saudi Arabia did not establish ties with Israel during the first Trump administration, just as the United Arab Emiratesthe republican’s son-in-law, Jared Kushnerhas discussed this possibility with Mohamed bin Salmán several times in recent years.
A “chasm” between the Saudis and Israel
The possibility of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel being much more distant than before the war in GazaIt appears that Riyadh’s priority is to seek stability in the Middle East with the region’s own powers. Especially now that Qatar has withdrawn from sponsoring peace negotiations and expelled Hamas diplomats from its territory.
But the Wahhabi monarchy has a big thorn in its side if it seeks to take on Qatar’s role. Last week, for the first time since the start of the war, Israel attacked targets of Hezbollah Al-Hejaz, the Saudi branch of the Lebanese militia.
Omran Karim, from the predominantly Shiite city of Qatif on Saudi Arabia’s east coast, is believed to have died while fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, according to the Beirut newspaper. The Orient-The Day. Karim was the son of “Abu Omran”, head of the Hezbollah branch in Saudi Arabia and alleged mastermind of Attack on Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, where 19 soldiers died Americans.
In 2016, Karim congratulated his mother for being married to a man “wanted by the House of Saud” and “by the CIA and Interpol”, who was then “on death row”, according to The Orient-The Day. Although there is no verified information Confirming the active participation of foreign recruits in the ranks of Hezbollah during Israel’s war against the armed group, militia leaders said that all requests from non-Lebanese fighters had been rejected.
If since the creation of the movement in 1987 Riyadh has been able to attenuate the pro-Iranian group, since the start of the offensive in Lebanon the few men who make up the movement they reactivated the armed struggle. If Riyadh wants to become the new Doha, it will have to reassert itself as the toughest regime in the Gulf with a view to Washington And Tel Aviv.
