Qatar’s foreign minister said Friday that his country remains committed to the creation of a Palestinian state with its capital in east Jerusalem, and that progress on that front would need to be “at the core” of any agreement to normalize relations with Israel.

“Right now, I don’t see that the normalization of Qatar and Israel is going to to add value to the Palestinian people,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at Italy’s annual Mediterranean Dialogue.

There was speculation that Qatar — which already cooperates with Israel in providing aid to the Gaza Strip — might be the next Arab country to normalize relations after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan established diplomatic ties with Israel earlier this year.

But the foreign minister said Qatar remains committed to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, in which Arab countries would recognize Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from territories occupied in the 1967 war and the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.

The foreign minister noted that his country has a “working relationship” with Israel to provide aid to Gaza, where the terror group Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.

“But for the full normalization, I believe that the (Palestinian issue) needs to be at the core of any agreement of normalization between Qatar and Israel,” he said.

The wealthy Gulf country’s aid to Gaza has provided a lifeline to the territory, which has been under a crippling Israeli and Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power. It has also been a key element in a shaky, informal truce that has prevented any major outbreaks of fighting in recent years. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars — the most recent in 2014 — as well as countless smaller skirmishes.

Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner visited Qatar last week and met with the country’s ruler Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. His visit focused on advancing efforts to solve the three-year Gulf crisis which has seen Qatar’s neighbors cut ties and impose a land, air and sea blockade on the tiny state, citing Doha’s close relations with Iran and its support of terror entities.

Following his visit to Doha, Kushner visited Saudi Arabia. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said Friday that an end to the yearslong boycott of Qatar by the kingdom and three other Arab nations “looks in reach” for all involved, though he offered no details on how this feud would be resolved.

However, the other three nations boycotting Qatar — Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates — did not immediately acknowledge this burst of optimism. Over a year ago, a similar hope for an end to the dispute quickly faded.

The boycott has torn apart the typically clubby Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-nation group comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem & AP)