������

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said that the kingdom will not normalise relations with Israel or contribute to Gaza's reconstruction without a credible pathway to a Palestinian state.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud's remarks in an interview with CNN broadcast on Sunday were some of the most direct yet from Saudi officials.

It puts them at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has rejected Palestinian statehood and described plans for an open-ended military control of Gaza.

Before the 7 October Hamas attack, the US had been trying to broker a landmark agreement in which Saudi Arabia would normalise relations with Israel in exchange for US security guarantees, aid in establishing a civilian nuclear program in the kingdom, and progress toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In September, Netanyahu had said Israel was "at the cusp” of such a deal, which he said would transform the Middle East.