Saudi FM sees progress on Yemen, urges Israel to engage on resolving conflict

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said on Wednesday progress was being made towards ending the Yemen war, but more work was needed, including reinstating a truce and transitioning to a permanent ceasefire.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan, speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said the eight-year conflict would only be resolved through a political settlement.

The United Nations envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, speaking on the same panel, said ending the war “will not be easy” and mistrust remains, but that serious steps have been taken recently.

Israel

Prince Faisal also urged Israel’s new government to engage seriously on resolving the Palestinian conflict.

Prince Faisal said Israel’s government was sending “some signals that maybe are not conducive to that” but voiced hope it would see that resolving the conflict would be in Israel’s interest and that of the wider region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to pursue formal Israeli ties with Riyadh after normalization pacts signed with the UAE and Bahrain in 2020, but Saudi Arabia has linked any such move by the Kingdom to a resolution of Palestinian statehood goals.