Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza can turn catastrophic, Saudi Arabia warns US

The United States was strongly warned by Saudi officials that the ground invasion by the Israeli army into the Gaza Strip could turn catastrophic for West Asia.

Member of the Armed Services Committee and Democrat of Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal was among one of the 10 senators, who held talks with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last weekend in Riyadh.

“The Saudi leadership was hopeful that a ground operation could be avoided for reasons of stability as well as the loss of life,” said Blumenthal, while speaking to The New York Times on Thursday (Oct 26). The government officials of Saudi Arabia that it would be “extremely harmful”, he said.

In various conversations with their American counterparts, senior Saudi officials have multiple times hinted at how a ground invasion can turn into a disaster for the whole region, as per one Saudi official, The New York Times reported.

The exchanges took place as tensions continued to escalate in the Gaza Strip. An official of the Biden administration said that it has become evident that Saudi Arabia is against an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.

Repeatedly, the United States has asserted the right to self-defence of Israel since the Hamas attack in which more than 1,400 people were killed in Israel.

“Let there be no doubt. The United States has Israel’s back,” United States President Joe Biden had stated recently. During the same time, Biden had appealed to Israel to delay the invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The US officials had clarified that the request was made due to multiple reasons which included getting more humanitarian aid inside Gaza, taking more time to reach negotiations for release of hostages and doing better war planning.

Watch | 20 days of Israel-Hamas war: Israeli forces continue to pound Gaza | WION Pulse

In the call held between Prince Mohammed and, Biden the leaders “agreed on pursuing broader diplomatic efforts to maintain stability across the region and prevent the conflict from expanding,” said the White House, in a statement on Tuesday (Oct 24).

Prince Mohammed and President Biden, after sharing strained relations, have been able to find common ground earlier this year and have trying to finalise a deal, as per which Israel will be recognised by Saudi Arabi and diplomatic ties will be established between the two.

Biden and his top aides have been eager to finalise an agreement, stating that it will reshape West Asia.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)

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