White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday, October 31, 2023, that Saudi Arabia has confirmed to the administration of President Joe Biden that the Kingdom is still interested in seeking to reach an agreement that would normalize relations with Israel after the end of the war in Gaza, according to What was reported by the American website “Axios”.

Kirby said: “Without going into details, we emerged from those discussions confident that we have a path back toward normalization and that there is interest from the Saudi side in continuing that.”

He added that the war in Gaza makes it difficult to make progress at the moment, but said: “We are still committed to it, and it is clear to us that the Saudis are still committed to it.” The Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to questions regarding Kirby’s comments, according to Axios.

The website noted that a congressional delegation from both the Democratic and Republican parties, headed by Senator Lindsey Graham, visited Saudi Arabia 10 days ago and met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The website quoted a source familiar with the talks in Saudi Arabia, saying that the message the senators heard from Saudi officials was that they “are still interested in trying to reach a normalization agreement with Israel.”

Biden is pressing for normalization

Biden spoke last week with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and both stressed “the importance of working toward a sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians once the crisis subsides,” according to the White House.

After their phone call, Biden said he had "no evidence" but that his "instinct" told him that Hamas "may have attacked Israel to obstruct the progress made in the Israeli-Saudi agreement."

Before the war began on October 7, Biden was pushing to reach a deal with Saudi Arabia that would include a historic normalization agreement between the Kingdom and Israel.

This comes as Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman visits Washington this week to hold talks with senior officials in the Biden administration amid the war in Gaza.

Yesterday, Monday, the Saudi minister met with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and the White House said that they discussed the war in Gaza and stressed the urgent need to increase humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

The White House added that they "also stressed the importance of working to achieve sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians, building on the work already underway between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States in recent months."

KBS said in a tweet on “X” that he stressed to Sullivan the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, protecting civilians, allowing humanitarian aid, and resuming the peace process.