U.S. President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed on Tuesday to “build on” past and present diplomatic efforts “to maintain stability across the region,” according to the White House.
Biden affirmed that Washington “fully supports the defense of U.S. partners facing terrorist threats, whether from state or non-state actors,” and discussed “ongoing diplomatic and military efforts to deter state and non-state actors from widening the conflict,” according to the White House readout of the call.
The two leaders welcomed the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza from Egypt, as well as ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.
They also “affirmed the importance of working towards a sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians as soon as the crisis subsides, building on the work that was already underway between Saudi Arabia and the United States over recent months.”
The United States had been working on a landmark peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which many believed could have been signed in the next few months.
Following Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel, Riyadh reportedly informed Washington that it was pausing efforts to forge peace with the Jewish state.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group said earlier this month that Hamas’s massacre was in response to both “Israel’s continued occupation and a message to those seeking normalization with it.”
The latter reference was widely construed as an allusion to the Trump administration-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized ties between Jerusalem and four Arab nations, as well as to the prospect of the Saudis signing on.
