Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, did not attend Tuesday’s Arab League summit on Gaza in Cairo, with Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan leading the Saudi delegation instead, state media reported.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after the crown prince hosted Arab leaders to discuss countering U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal for Gaza, which includes U.S. control over the enclave and the forced relocation of its residents.
“On behalf of… King Salman… Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, arrived today in Cairo to head the Kingdom’s delegation participating in the extraordinary Arab summit,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
Trump’s remarks about turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East” while relocating Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan have sparked widespread outrage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the plan as “visionary and innovative,” but it has been widely rejected by Palestinians, Arab states, and several U.S. and Israeli partners.
Arab foreign ministers convened in Cairo on Monday for a closed-door meeting to prepare a plan for Gaza’s reconstruction that does not involve displacing its people, an Arab League source told AFP. The proposal was then presented to Arab leaders for approval at Tuesday’s summit.
The high-level meeting reflects growing regional efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza over ongoing Israeli destructions and diplomatic tensions over Trump’s controversial stance.
