Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday once again stressed the importance the kingdom places on a Palestinian state.

Speaking at the Arab League summit taking place in the country, bin Salman said, according to Channel 12 News, “The Palestinian issue was and still is the main issue of the Arab countries and is at the top of the kingdom’s priorities. We will not delay in providing assistance to the Palestinian people in recovering their lands, restoring their legitimate rights and establishing an independent state within the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who attended the summit, said that “commemorating the Nakba at the UN refutes the Zionist narrative.”

In addition, he called on the Arab countries to turn to the International Criminal Court over the “Israeli occupation” and charged, “Israel violates the signed agreements and UN resolutions and adheres to the colonial Zionist project which is based on the continuation of the occupation, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.”

Haaretz noted that, in a statement summarizing the summit published after its conclusion, the members of the Arab League reaffirmed their support for the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which stipulates that 22 Arab countries will normalize ties with Israel in return for an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria.

Israel to date has rejected the 2002 Saudi proposal due to the fact that it calls for Israel to accept the so-called “right of return” for millions of descendants of Arabs who fled pre-state Israel, effectively bringing an end to the Jewish state.

The Saudi Crown Prince’s remarks come amid reports that the White House wants to make a diplomatic push for a Saudi-Israeli peace deal in the next six to seven months.

The statements are in line with what Saudi officials have said in the past – that a Palestinian state with eastern Jerusalem as its capital is a prerequisite for Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel.

(Israel National News’ North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)

The Mideast-based commanders of the US, British and French navies transited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday aboard an American warship, The Associated Press reported.

The move follows Iran’s recent seizure of two foreign vessels in the Persian Gulf and indications by US officials that the US military will work to bolster the defensive posture in the Gulf region in response.

In the past two years, Iran has harassed, attacked or interfered with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged commercial vessels, officials said.

Most recently, Iran seized the Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet on April 27 as it traveled in the Gulf of Oman. Six days later, it seized a second ship, the Niovi, a Panama-flagged tanker as it left a dry dock in Dubai.

Friday’s incredibly rare, joint trip by the three navy chiefs aboard the USS Paul Hamilton, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, saw three fast boats of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard approach the vessel at one point.

Guardsmen stood by uncovered machine guns on their decks, while sailors aboard the Paul Hamilton similarly stood by loaded machine guns as others shot photographs and video of the vessels. An Associated Press journalist also accompanied the allied naval commanders.

On the trip through the Strait of Hormuz, at least one Iranian drone watched the Paul Hamilton. Meanwhile, an US Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon also was overhead. US forces also routinely fly drones in the region as well, while a Navy task force also has put some drones out to sea.

The Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy supplies, has often been a site of tense encounters between Americans and Iranian forces.

In early December, an Iranian patrol boat tried to temporarily blind US Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz by shining a spotlight toward the vessels and crossing within 150 yards of them.

Last August, an Iranian ship seized an American military unmanned research vessel in the Gulf but released it after a US Navy patrol boat and helicopter were deployed to the location.

The Islamic Republic has threatened more than once to close the Strait of Hormuz, with the United States warning Iran in response that any attempt to close the strait would be viewed as a “red line” — grounds for US military action.

(Israel National News’ North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)