Saudi Arabia rejects remarks by Israel’s Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians

CAIRO: Saudi Arabia affirmed its categorical rejection of remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians from their land, the foreign ministry said in a statement Sunday.

Israeli officials had suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be joking this week when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who misspoke by saying “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state” before correcting himself.

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While the Saudi statement mentioned Netanyahu’s name, it did not directly refer to the comments about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi territory.

Earlier the Palestinian group accused Israel of breaching their ceasefire accord and held off announcing the names of the three Israelis until a 4 p.m. (1400 GMT) deadline had passed.

It was not immediately clear whether the delay would affect the scheduled exchange on Saturday.

Hamas accused Israel of delaying the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying food and other humanitarian supplies agreed under the truce deal that took effect on January 19 and holding back all but a fraction of the tents and mobile homes needed to provide shelter to people returning to their bombed-out homes.

“This demonstrates clear manipulation of relief and shelter priorities,” Hamas said.