Saudi Arabia condemns Netanyahu’s remarks on Palestinian displacement

Saudi Arabia on Sunday strongly condemned the recent statements of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had called for the displacement of Palestinians to the kingdom.

In an official statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its categorical rejection of such rhetoric, emphasizing that the Palestinian people have a right to their land, and they are not intruders or immigrants to it who can be expelled whenever the brutal Israeli occupation wishes.

The kingdom also stated that this extremist, occupying mentality does not understand what the Palestinian land means to the brotherly people of Palestine,and asserted that Israel does not think that the Palestinian people deserve to live in the first place.

Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who mistakenly said Saudi state instead of Palestinian state, before correcting himself.

While the Saudi statement mentioned Netanyahu’s name, it did not directly refer to the comments about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi territory.
Egypt and Jordan also condemned the Israeli suggestions, with Cairo deeming the idea as a direct infringement of Saudi sovereignty.

The kingdom said it valued brotherly states rejection of Netanyahu’s remarks.

This occupying extremist mindset does not comprehend what the Palestinian territory means for the brotherly people of Palestine and its conscientious, historical and legal association with that land, it said.

Discussions of the fate of Palestinians in Gaza has been upended by Tuesday’s shock proposal from President Donald Trump that the U.S. would take over the Gaza Strip from Israel and create a Riviera of the Middle East after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.

Arab states have roundly condemned Trump’s comments, which came during a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza war that Israel has been waging against the militant group Hamas, which controls the narrow strip.

Trump has said Saudi Arabia was not demanding a Palestinian state as a condition for normalising ties with Israel. But Riyadh rebuffed his statements, saying it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.

Gaza authorities say the war has killed more than 47,000 of the nearly 2 million Palestinians who live there. Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led gunmen killed some 1,200 people and seized more than 250 as hostages in an October 7, 2023, attack, according to Israeli tallies.