By Pesha Magid

RIYADH (Reuters) -Saudi Arabia on Thursday condemned Israeli attacks in northern Gaza as genocide and told foreign investors that some bilateral deals it has negotiated with Washington are “not that linked” to the normalization of relations with Israel.

Speaking on stage at an investment conference in Riyadh, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said Israel’s actions in northern Gaza can only be described as a form of genocide that fuels a cycle of violence.

He reiterated the kingdom’s position that it would not recognize Israel without a Palestinian state, adding that in addition to this proposed step, Saudi Arabia was “quite happy to wait until the situation is appropriate” before moving on to normalization.

“We’re looking at what’s happening right now in the north (Gaza), where any access to humanitarian supplies is completely blockaded and there’s no real way for civilians to find shelter, to find safe haven, where military offensives are continuing, it’s being described as a kind of genocide,” he said.

“This is absolutely contrary to humanitarian law, international humanitarian law, and fuels an ongoing cycle of violence.”

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem.

Israel says it continues to ship food to Gaza and accuses the United Nations of not feeding Gazans.

Prince Faisal added that potential US-Saudi agreements on trade and artificial intelligence “are not dependent on any third party” and “could probably move forward quite quickly.”

“Some of the more important defense cooperation agreements are much more complex. We would certainly welcome the opportunity to complete these before the end of the (Biden) administration’s term, but that depends on other factors beyond our control,” he said.

“Other workflows are not as connected and some are moving quite quickly and we hope to see progress.”

SAFETY COMMITMENTS

Saudi Arabia and the United States are exploring a series of agreements on nuclear energy, security and defense cooperation that were initially part of a broader normalization agreement with Riyadh and Israel.

US President Joe Biden’s aides had envisaged in trilateral negotiations before the October 7 attack that Saudi Arabia would obtain US security commitments and US nuclear cooperation in exchange for normalizing relations with Israel.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in May that Washington and Riyadh were close to signing a series of agreements, but warned that for normalization to progress, there must be calm in Gaza and a path to a Palestinian state.

Fears of a further widening conflict in the Middle East peaked earlier this month following Tehran’s missile attack on Israel on October 1.

Israel responded by striking military facilities in Iran on Saturday but stopped short of attacking nuclear or oil facilities.

Gulf states sought urgent de-escalation for fear of being caught in the middle of a widening conflict.

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia’s political rapprochement with Tehran in recent years has helped ease regional tensions, but relations remain rocky.

“I think our relations (with Iran) are moving in the right direction, but of course they are complicated by regional dynamics,” Prince Faisal said.

(Reporting by Andrew Mills and Pesha Magid; writing by Maha El Dahan; Editing by Alex Richardson, William Maclean)