Ibrahim Khazen and Ikram Kouachi
09 February 2025•Update: 09 February 2025
CAIRO
Qatar strongly condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “provocative” statements suggesting the establishment of a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia.
“These statements are a flagrant violation of international law and a blatant infringement of the United Nations Charter,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry affirmed Qatar’s full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and reiterated its “categorical rejection of calls for the forced displacement of the brotherly Palestinian people.”
It warned that “such calls would hinder the chances of peace and renew confrontations in the region.”
Qatar underlined its “unwavering position on the justice of the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, including the establishment of their independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
It went on to urge the international community “to decisively address the Israeli provocations.”
On Thursday, Netanyahu suggested that Palestinians should establish their state in Saudi Arabia rather than in their own homeland, dismissing any notion of Palestinian sovereignty.
“The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there,” he said.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday strongly condemned Netanyahu’s statements and emphasized the right of the Palestinian people to their land.
On Feb. 4, US President Donald Trump said Washington would “take over” Gaza and resettle Palestinians elsewhere under an extraordinary redevelopment plan that he claimed could turn the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
His proposal was met with wide condemnations from the Palestinians, Arab countries, and many other nations across the world, including Canada, France, Germany, and the UK.
