Riyadh, 14 October 2023 (dpa/MIA) – Saudi Arabia has paused talks for a possible normalization of ties with Israel, dpa learned from Saudi diplomatic sources on Saturday.

The monarchy has suspended talks with the United States to normalize ties with Israel due to ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, the sources said.

The news came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reached Saudi Arabia, part of a regional tour aimed at preventing Israel's conflict with Hamas from spiralling into a regional war.

Blinken met his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

"It's vitally important – and I know that our countries agree – that we work together to make sure that, to the best of our ability, this conflict does not spread to other places and other fronts," Blinken said, according to State Department readout, alongside the Saudi diplomat.

"We need to work together to find a way out of this cycle of violence. This is something that we really, really need to focus on. Without a concerted effort to end this constant return to violence, it will always be the civilians that suffer first and always be civilians on both sides that end up paying the price," said Prince Faisal.

Israeli warplanes and artillery have been pounding the Gaza Strip, a densely populated Palestinian territory, in response to coordinated attacks on Israel launched from Gaza by the Islamist militant group Hamas.

Last month, Saudi Arabia’s de-facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, confirmed moves towards the normalization of relations with Israel.

"Every day we get closer," he said in an interview with Fox News, describing the talks as serious for the first time.

On Friday, Saudi Arabia said it rejects "the forced displacement of the Palestinian people from Gaza" and condemned what it called the "continued targeting of defenceless civilians there.”

Riyadh’s reaction came after the Israeli military told residents of northern Gaza to leave their homes and head south, triggering fears that a potential ground offensive was imminent.

Until around two years ago, Egypt and Jordan were the only Arab countries to maintain diplomatic ties with Israel.

With US mediation, formal links were agreed in September 2020 between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, which are members of a Saudi-led Gulf bloc. 

Morocco and Sudan have announced steps to follow.

Photo: EPA