Crown prince Mohamad bin Salman > US State Department, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Officials from the Palestinian Authority have demanded hundreds of millions of dollars and more control of land in the West Bank during talks in Riyadh with Saudi counterparts as part of the three-way deal involving the US, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The deal would involve Saudi recognition of Israel and in return they would receive American-made weapons and, more controversially, a civil nuclear programme including in-country uranium enrichment.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted the importance of the deal last month, claiming “we’re about to witness a pivot of history.”
The Palestinians have asked a transfer of land in area C away from Israeli control to the governance of the Palestinian Authority.
They also wanted a “complete cessation” of Israeli settlement growth in the West Bank and a resumption of Saudi financial support to the PA, which declined from 2016 and stopped completely in 2020.
These terms represent a significant shift from the official Palestinian position on Saudi-Israel normalisation – which is to reject it outright if it does not leave them with an independent state.
