Saudi Arabia strongly rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks on displacing Palestinians, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday.
Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Netanyahu appeared to be joking 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, Jordan and Qatar also condemned the Israeli suggestions, with Cairo deeming the idea as a "direct infringement of Saudi sovereignty."
Qatar, a key mediator in Gaza cease-fire negotiations between Hamas and Israel, on Sunday described Netanyahu's statement as "provocative."
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.
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 cease-fire in Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.
Trump claimed Saudi Arabia was not demanding a Palestinian state as a condition for normalizing ties with Israel. But Riyadh rebuffed his statements, saying it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
Israel's genocidal war in Gaza has killed more than 47,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the local health authorities.
Tel Aviv launched its brutal offensive after the Hamas incursion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2022, which caused around 1,200 deaths and took around 250 captives, according to Israeli tallies.
