UPDATE 3 - Arab countries condemn Netanyahu remarks, rejects any Israeli attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians

​​​​​​​ADDS GULF BLOC, REVISES DECK

By Ikram Kouachi and Rania Abu Shamala

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (AA) – Arab countries strongly condemned on Friday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks about the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing on Egypt’s border.

In an interview with the Israeli Telegram channel Abu Ali Express, Netanyahu claimed there were “different plans for how to rebuild Gaza” and alleged that “half of the population wants to leave Gaza,” describing it as “not a mass expulsion.”

He added: “I can open Rafah for them, but it will be closed immediately by Egypt.”

In an official Foreign Ministry statement, Egypt described the comments as part of “ongoing attempts to prolong escalation in the region and perpetuate instability while avoiding accountability for Israeli violations in Gaza.”

Cairo reiterated its “categorical rejection of forcibly or coercively displacing Palestinians from their land.”

The ministry emphasized that targeting civilians, critical infrastructure, and aspects of daily life to compel departure constitutes a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and amounts to ethnic cleansing.”

Egypt called on the international community to “activate accountability mechanisms against such acts,” warning that they are “increasingly being used as political propaganda within Israel due to the absence of international justice.”

The statement affirmed that Egypt will never be complicit in such practices or act as a conduit for Palestinian displacement, describing this as a “red line” that cannot be crossed.

It called for an end to “the chaos Israel seeks to impose," and urged "an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli withdrawal from the enclave, and international support to enable the legitimate Palestinian Authority to return to Gaza.”

Cairo highlighted the responsibility of the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to ensure the protection of Palestinians and support their continued presence in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.

- Blatant violation

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry called Netanyahu’s remarks “a blatant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.”

“These remarks also represent a flagrant encroachment on the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to remain on their land and establish their independent, sovereign state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Jordan stressed its “absolute rejection and condemnation of the continued extremist Israeli measures and statements aimed at imposing new realities on the Palestinians by force.”

The Qatari Foreign Ministry also decried the Israeli premier’s statements as “an extension of the occupation’s policy of violating the rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, showing contempt for international laws and agreements, and pursuing malicious efforts to block the path to peace, particularly the two-state solution.”

“The policy of collective punishment practiced by the occupation against Palestinians, including the ongoing brutal genocide in the Gaza Strip, its crimes in the West Bank, its violations of religious sanctities, its plans to expand settlements and Judaize Jerusalem, and its restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid to civilians, will not succeed in forcing the Palestinian people to abandon their land or confiscating their legitimate rights.” The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called Netanyahu’s remarks “provocative” and “unjustified attack” on Egypt.

“(These statements) are an official Israeli admission of the displacement plans being carried out by the occupation in the Gaza Strip.”

It hailed Egypt’s support for the Palestinian people and “its constant stand alongside Gaza and its residents in the face of genocide and displacement.”

The Saudi Foreign Ministry termed Netanyahu’s remarks “a grave violation of international laws, principles, and the most basic humanitarian standards,” while affirming its full support for Egypt.

The kingdom stressed “the need for the international community, particularly the permanent members of the UN Security Council, to intervene to stop Israel’s aggressive policies against the Palestinian people and their land, and reiterated its rejection of any form of displacement, regardless of the pretexts.”

- Full-fledged crime

Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry decried the Israeli prime minister’s statements as “a blatant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, and a flagrant assault on the inalienable rights of the brotherly Palestinian people.” “Comprehensive and just peace in the region cannot be achieved without ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and establishing an independent, sovereign State of Palestine on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” it stressed.

Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jassem Albudaiwi called Netanyahu’s remarks “irresponsible” and “dangerous.”

The statements are “a public call to perpetrate a full-fledged crime of ethnic cleansing and a flagrant violation of all international charters, conventions, and laws,” he said in a statement.

Albudaiwi urged the international community “to urgently assume its legal and humanitarian responsibilities and take firm and immediate measures to stop these dangerous practices and statements, and prevent an escalation of the situation that threatens regional and global stability.”

The genocide in Gaza entered day 700 on Friday, with Israel having killed at least 64,300 Palestinians. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.