Israel will not allow a meeting planned for June 1 in the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, to go ahead, an Israeli official said after Arab ministers intending to join the event were prevented from entering.

Israel controls the Palestinian territory’s borders and airspace, meaning the ministers require Israeli consent to enter the occupied West Bank from Jordan.

The delegation included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, alongside Türkiye and the secretary-general of the Arab League. An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in “a provocative meeting” to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Had the visit gone ahead, the delegation’s head Prince Faisal bin Farhan would have become the first Saudi foreign minister to visit the occupied West Bank.

Jordan’s foreign ministry said the senior Arab officials had postponed the visit due to “Israel’s obstruction of it,” adding that the block was “a clear breach of Israel’s obligations as an occupying force.”