SAUDI ARABIA PERSPECTIVE

Riyadh measures its words but conceals nothing. Asharq Al-Awsat publishes in English an open article on the bombing of the Tyre hospital, which left 13 wounded among the medical staff, followed by the 'alarm' of the UN in the face of escalation. The Saudi position is refracted through two channels: the reminder of Israel to 'Israel's security' that it acknowledges, and the emphasis on European declarations (the EU calling for an end to airstrikes, the failed German-Norwegian mission in Beirut) rather than taking a front-line stance.

The Saudi media outlet highlights with precision UN Resolution 1701 and the chronology: nominal truce on April 17, never respected, mutual accusations, and the acceleration of the past week. The article 'Israeli Flag Raised over Lebanon's Beaufort Castle in Deepest Incursion in 26 Years' details the castle's capture, the return of the Golani Brigade, and the flag planted — without pathos, but with particular attention to operational facts (5 km from Nabatieh, Hezbollah's undetectable fiber-optic drones).

The Saudi position can also be read between the lines: Asharq Al-Awsat reprises the Macron-MBS consultation within the framework of a collective Gulf-Europe diplomacy to push for a US-Iran agreement, without MBS ever publicly speaking out. Riyadh weighs three things: its regional rivalry with Iran, which would facilitate a weakening of Hezbollah, its new diplomatic proximity to Tehran since the 2023 Chinese agreement, and its fear that the Lebanese conflagration will ultimately derail its own economic projects (Vision 2030, NEOM). The narrative is dense, technical, and fundamentally cautious.