Saudi Arabia blasts Netanyahu's call for Palestinian state on its land

Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned comments by Israel's prime minister, in which he suggested that a Palestinian state could be established on Saudi territory. 

On Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu said during an interview with Israel's Channel 14: "The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there."

As a string of countries condemned the remarks, including Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iraq, the kingdom's foreign ministry said it "appreciates the condemnation, disapproval and total rejection announced by the brotherly countries towards what Benjamin Netanyahu stated". 

In a statement published on Sunday morning, Riyadh said it categorically rejected statements that "aim to divert attention from the continuous crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian brothers in Gaza, including the ethnic cleansing they are subjected to". 

"This extremist, occupying mentality does not understand what the Palestinian land means to the brotherly people of Palestine and their emotional, historical and legal connection to this land," it said. 

"And it does not think that the Palestinian people deserve to live in the first place, as it has completely destroyed the Gaza Strip, killed and injured more than 160,000, most of them children and women, without the slightest human feeling or moral responsibility." 

Since the war began on 7 October 2023, Riyadh has re-emphasised its position that it would only forge ties with Israel if a Palestinian state is established with East Jerusalem as its capital.

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