Palestinian president to visit Saudi Arabia

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Saudi Arabia on Monday for talks with Saudi King Salman and his Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh.

The visit comes amid reports that Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh will visit the oil-rich kingdom on Monday for the first time in years.

Speaking to the official Palestine Voice radio station, Palestinian Ambassador in Riyadh Basem Al-Agha said Abbas will discuss Palestinian developments with the Saudi officials during his visit.

Abbas will speak about the Zionist [Israeli] crimes in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher [in occupied East Jerusalem] and the Palestinian suffering from the Israeli occupation.

On Friday, Saudi Arabia hosted a ministerial meeting of Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq and the UAE during which participants strongly condemned Israeli assaults on worshipers at Al-Aqsa complex and measures that undermine the two-state solution.

Tensions escalated across the Palestinian territories last week after Israeli forces forcibly worshipers from inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem.

The Israeli raids on the mosque triggered rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, with Israel retaliating with air and artillery shelling.

Israeli security forces on Saturday also attacked Orthodox Christians who wanted to attend the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the occupied East Jerusalem.

Middle East Monitor / ABC Flash Point Middle East Blog News 2023.