The Saudi foreign ministry affirms that the Palestinian people have a right to their land
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday rejected the statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the displacement of the Palestinian people from their land.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry in a statement said that it rejected “such 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.”
The ministry expressed its appreciation of the “condemnation, disapproval, and total rejection announced by the brotherly countries” regarding the Israeli leader’s comments.
“The Kingdom also points out that 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, 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,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry statement said.
It affirmed that the Palestinian people have a right to their land, and they are not intruders or immigrants to it who can be expelled whenever the brutal Israeli occupation wishes.
The statement said that the proponents of these extremist ideas are the ones who prevented Israel from accepting peace by refusing peaceful coexistence, rejecting the peace initiatives adopted by the Arab countries, and systematically practicing injustice towards the Palestinian people for more than 75 years, with disregard to the truth, justice, law and the values established in the United Nations Charter, including the human’s right to live in dignity on his land.
“The Kingdom also asserts that lasting peace will not be achieved except by returning to the logic of reason and accepting the principle of peaceful coexistence through the two-state solution,” noted the statement.
According to Gaza authorities, the Israeli relentless bombardment on the Palestinian territory has killed more than 47,000 of the nearly 2 million Palestinians who live there.
GCC ‘strongly condemns’ Netanyahu’s comments
In a statement, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) also “strongly condemned” Netanyahu’s statement.
GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said in a statement that “these dangerous and irresponsible statements confirm the approach of the Israeli occupation forces in their lack of respect for international laws and treaties, as well as the sovereignty of nations”.
He affirmed the “firm and steadfast position of the Kingdom and the GCC countries in supporting the Palestinian people in obtaining their legitimate rights and the significant and valuable efforts exerted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the GCC countries in regional and international forums to support the Palestinian cause”.
He also called on the international community “to seriously and decisively stand against these aggressive Israeli statements, which pose a threat and danger to the security and stability of the region and the world at large”.