WASHINGTON: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said there can be no normalization of relations with Israel without resolving the Palestinian issue, he told CNN in an interview that aired Sunday.

Asked if there could be normal ties without a path to a credible and irreversible Palestinian state, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria: “That’s the only way to get benefits. So yes, because we need stability, and only stability can be achieved by resolving the Palestinian issue.

The foreign minister’s remarks were part of an interview that was originally filmed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland last week and broadcast by CNN on Sunday.

De-escalating the conflict in Gaza and stopping civilian deaths is a key goal for Saudi Arabia, the minister said.

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“What we are seeing is that the Israelis are crushing Gaza, the civilian population of Gaza,” he said. “This is totally unnecessary, totally unacceptable and it has to stop.”

The local Gaza health ministry says more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 62,000 wounded in Israel’s assault on the region since a Palestinian Islamist group attacked Israel on October 7.