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RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the situation in Palestine, the Saudi Press Agency reported early on Wednesday.
The crown prince, who received the call from Macron, reiterated the Kingdom’s position, which seeks an immediate end to the war in Gaza and a just, secure and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, and condemns any measure aimed at undermining a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The pair also discussed issues of mutual cooperation between France and the Kingdom, and measures to enhance them.
�������� and France have led an initiative to push for recognition for a Palestinian state.
In July, Macron announced France would formally recognize the State of Palestine during the UN General Assembly, to be held later this month, becoming the first G7 country to make the commitment. 
The move was welcomed by �������� and other Gulf states.
The Saudi foreign ministry said “the kingdom commends this historic decision, which reaffirms the international community’s consensus on the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and to establish their independent state.”
Last month, �������� and France co-chaired a key conference to encourage major world powers to accept that Palestinian statehood is now a must to ensure long-term peace in the Middle East.
Australia, Belgium, Canada, Malta, Portugal and the UK have all promised to recognize Palestine this month.
Israel has said it will take over Gaza City after nearly 2 years of fighting in the Palestinian territory, and has voiced threats to annex the West Bank too if Western nations follow through with promises of recognizing a Palestinian state.
“No offensive, annexation attempt, or forced displacement of populations will derail the momentum,” Macron wrote on X, after his call with the crown prince.
Israel has killed over 62,000 people, mostly civilians, in Gaza and has been actively starving the population as a weapon of war, according to health officials and rights groups.
Its actions against civilians is now being called a genocide by experts.
Eighty-six percent of those who voted among the 500-member International Association of Genocide Scholars backed the resolution declaring: “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in Article II of the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948).”
The current conflict between Israel and Hamas began after the group raided Israeli settlements next to the Gaza border, which resulted in the death of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the capture of around 250 hostages.
Israel’s government has vowed to eradicate the group and free their hostages.
President Donald Trump held a meeting at the White House last week to discuss what would come after the war ended.
The meeting was attended by Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and former adviser, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and a top Israeli official, according to US media.
A 38-page prospectus circulating within the Trump administration envisions the relocation of all of Gaza’s 2 million population so that the US can take over the enclave for ten-years while it is transformed into a tourist resort and tech hub, the Washington Post reported on Sunday.
Trump announced in February that he wants the Palestinian territory to be turned into what he called the “Riviera of the Middle East”. 

RIYADH: Riyadh Deputy Gov. Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz received Australian Ambassador to the Kingdom Miles Armitage in Riyadh on Tuesday.

The meeting was held on Armitage’s appointment as his country’s ambassador to the Kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Prince Mohammed wished the ambassador success in his new duties.

During the meeting, they discussed various topics of common interest.