Arab nations assail Israeli PM’s remarks

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries condemned on Sunday remarks by Israel’s prime minister, who appeared to suggest in an interview that a Palestinian state could be established on Saudi territory.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks, which some Israeli media characterised as a joke, came with the region already on edge after US President Donald Trump proposed taking over the territory and displacing Gazans abroad.

Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Sunday that the thinking behind Netanyahu’s remarks “is unacceptable and reflects a complete detachment from reality”, adding that such ideas “are nothing more than mere fantasies or illusions”.

The Saudi foreign ministry stressed its “categorical rejection to such statements that aim to divert attention from the continuous crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian brothers in Gaza”.

Netanyahu’s statement reflects ‘complete detachment from reality’, says Arab League chief

In a TV interview, right-wing Israeli journalist Yaakov Bardugo was discussing with Netanyahu the prospect of diplomatic normalisation with Saudi Arabia when he appeared to misspeak, attributing to Riyadh the stance that there would be “no progress without a Saudi state”.

“Palestinian state?” Netanyahu corrected him. “Unless you want the Palestinian state to be in Saudi Arabia,” he quipped. “They (the Saudis) have plenty of territory.”

Jordan’s foreign ministry condemned the remarks as “inflammatory and a clear violation of international law”, stressing that the Palestinians have the “right to establish an independent, sovereign state” alongside Israel.

The UAE foreign ministry denounced Netanyahu’s comments as “reprehensible and provocative” in a statement, calling them “a blatant violation of international law and the United Nations charter”.

In its statement, Saudi Arabia said “this extremist, occupying mentality does not understand what the Palestinian land means” to Palestinians.

Such a mindset, it added, “does not think that the Palestinian people deserve to live in the first place, as it has completely destroyed the Gaza Strip” and killed tens of thousands “without the slightest human feeling or moral responsibility”.

Enforced displacement

Earlier, Trump also sparked global outrage with clean out Gaza Strip plan suggesting Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians displaced from Gaza — an idea both countries have flatly rejected.

While Trump ruled out sending American troops to the territory, Netanyahu in an interview with Fox News said Israel was willing to “do the job”.

“I think that President Trump’s proposal is the first fresh idea in years, and it has the potential to change everything in Gaza,” said Netanyahu. Trump “never said he wants American troops to do the job. Guess what? We’ll do the job,” he added.

Israeli forces’ pullout

However, Israeli troops completed their withdrawal on Sunday from the strategic Netzarim Corridor on Salaheddin Road cutting through the Gaza Strip, as part of a fragile truce deal that Israel claimed it was implementing.

Israeli forces dismantled their positions and military posts and withdrew their tanks from the Netzarim Corridor, allowing vehicles to pass freely in both directions, a Hamas official said.

AFP journalists saw no troops in the area Sunday as cars, buses, pickup trucks and donkey carts travelled along the road from both the north and south, crossing the Netzarim Corridor where an Israeli checkpoint used to stand.

Earlier on Sunday, Israel President Isaac Herzog said President Trump would meet the leaders of Egpyt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to discuss the plan for a “sustainable future”, Al Jazeera reported.

“These are partners that must be listened to, they must be discussed with. We have to honour their feelings as well and see how we build a plan that is sustainable for the future.”

Meanwhile, an Israeli delegation arrived in Doha for discussions on the ongoing Gaza ceasefire after Netanyahu called for taking the talks forward, according to Al Jazeera.

Earlier, a statement by Netanyahu’s office said that on his return to Israel from the United States, Netanyahu will “hold a security cabinet meeting regarding negotiations for the second phase” of the prisoner swap.

On the other hand, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said Israel’s “lack of commitment in implementing the first phase… exposes this agreement to danger and thus it may stop or collapse”.

110 Palestinians killed after ceasefire

At least 110 Palestinians have killed by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip since the implementation of the ceasefire agreement last month, according to The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.

More than 900 others have been injured since the ceasefire, averaging 47 injuries per day, the Geneva-based organisation said.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2025