Saudi initiatives regarding the war in Gaza and Lebanon: Proactive Diplomacy

Introduction

In the past two months, we have witnessed an acceleration in diplomatic initiatives launched by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to address the war in Gaza and Lebanon.

On September 27, 2024, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud announced the establishment of an "international coalition" to support creating a Palestinian state and implement the two-state solution. The announcement was made in New York from within the halls of the United Nations. On October 30, 2024, Riyadh hosted the coalition's first meeting, with representatives from 90 countries in attendance. Then, on November 11, 2024, Saudi Arabia organized an Arab-Islamic summit to discuss the situation in Gaza and Lebanon. Leaders from every  Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation member states were invited to this summit. The final statement of the Riyadh Summit 2024 took a more forceful and condemnatory stance, targeting Israel's actions more prominently than previous international summits. As a key mediator and facilitator, Türkiye participated in these summits, with President Erdoğan playing a pivotal role in emphasizing the need to hold Israel accountable.

Two U.S.-backed negotiation tracks are now in progress but have not yet produced a major breakthrough to end the conflict, which coincides with Saudi Arabia's current diplomatic efforts regarding the fighting in Gaza and Lebanon. These tracks are the Qatari-Egyptian mediation between Hamas and Israel, and the mediation led by the U.S. Presidential Envoy Amos Hochstein between Lebanon and Israel. Saudi Arabia's recent diplomatic initiatives regarding the war in Gaza and Lebanon are driven by shared motives common to all countries in the region. These include the necessity of stopping the Israeli aggression on Gaza and Lebanon, which has caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties, accompanied by significant destruction of infrastructure. The final statement of the recent Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh described the events in Gaza and Lebanon as a war of extermination. In addition, this Saudi diplomatic activity seeks to prevent the war in Gaza and Lebanon from turning into a comprehensive regional war and, at the same time, highlights the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. 

Certainly, Saudi Arabia's motives for its current diplomatic initiatives are not limited solely to the Palestinian cause, the situation in Lebanon, or the dynamics of conflict and peace with Israel. Rather, they extend to geostrategic considerations related to Saudi Arabia's present and future position and roles on the regional and international stage. These efforts also aim to balance its stance on the war in Gaza and Lebanon with those of other regional and global actors.

The ongoing conflict in the region is expected to bring significant changes to the geopolitics of the Middle East, especially with Donald Trump returning to the White House. Those who fail to secure an influential role in the post- war landscape will likely struggle to establish a meaningful position in the future policies of the region.