RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries condemned on Sunday remarks by Israel\u2019s prime minister, who appeared to suggest in an interview that a Palestinian state could be established on Saudi territory.<\/p>\n
Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Sunday that the thinking behind Netanyahu\u2019s remarks \u201cis unacceptable and reflects a complete detachment from reality\u201d, adding that such ideas \u201care nothing more than mere fantasies or illusions\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Saudi foreign ministry stressed its \u201ccategorical rejection to such statements that aim to divert attention from the continuous crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian brothers in Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s statement reflects \u2018complete detachment from reality\u2019, says Arab League chief<\/p>\n
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 \u201cno progress without a Saudi state\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPalestinian state?\u201d Netanyahu corrected him. \u201cUnless you want the Palestinian state to be in Saudi Arabia,\u201d he quipped. \u201cThey (the Saudis) have plenty of territory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordan\u2019s foreign ministry condemned the remarks as \u201cinflammatory and a clear violation of international law\u201d, stressing that the Palestinians have the \u201cright to establish an independent, sovereign state\u201d alongside Israel.<\/p>\n
The UAE foreign ministry denounced Netanyahu\u2019s comments as \u201creprehensible and provocative\u201d in a statement, calling them \u201ca blatant violation of international law and the United Nations charter\u201d.<\/p>\n
In its statement, Saudi Arabia said \u201cthis extremist, occupying mentality does not understand what the Palestinian land means\u201d to Palestinians.<\/p>\n
Such a mindset, it added, \u201cdoes not think that the Palestinian people deserve to live in the first place, as it has completely destroyed the Gaza Strip\u201d and killed tens of thousands \u201cwithout the slightest human feeling or moral responsibility\u201d.<\/p>\n
Enforced displacement<\/p>\n
Earlier, Trump also sparked global outrage with clean out Gaza Strip plan suggesting Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians displaced from Gaza \u2014 an idea both countries have flatly rejected.<\/p>\n
While Trump ruled out sending American troops to the territory, Netanyahu in an interview with Fox News said Israel was willing to \u201cdo the job\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that President Trump\u2019s proposal is the first fresh idea in years, and it has the potential to change everything in Gaza,\u201d said Netanyahu. Trump \u201cnever said he wants American troops to do the job. Guess what? We\u2019ll do the job,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Israeli forces\u2019 pullout<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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 \u201csustainable future\u201d, Al Jazeera reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Earlier, a statement by Netanyahu\u2019s office said that on his return to Israel from the United States, Netanyahu will \u201chold a security cabinet meeting regarding negotiations for the second phase\u201d of the prisoner swap.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said Israel\u2019s \u201clack of commitment in implementing the first phase\u2026 exposes this agreement to danger and thus it may stop or collapse\u201d.<\/p>\n
110 Palestinians killed after ceasefire<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
More than 900 others have been injured since the ceasefire, averaging 47 injuries per day, the Geneva-based organisation said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries condemned on Sunday remarks by Israel\u2019s prime minister, who appeared to suggest in an interview that a Palestinian state could be established on Saudi territory. Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s remarks, which some Israeli media characterised as a joke, came with the region already on edge after US President Donald Trump […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5444"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5446,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5444\/revisions\/5446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}