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Forums - Politics Discussion - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ on 08 February 2025

Israel prison authorities confirm 183 Palestinians freed

Israel’s prison service has confirmed it released 183 Palestinian prisoners during the fifth exchange under the Gaza ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.

It said in a statement that they “were transferred from several prisons across the country”, before they “were released” to the occupied West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and Gaza.


A Palestinian ex-prisoner is greeted in Ramallah after being released from Israeli jail


Tears of joy as released Palestinians arrive in Ramallah



Released Palestinians in poor health after ‘horrific’ prison conditions

One of the first Palestinians prisoners released was Jamal al-Taweel, a key Hamas figure. He was in poor health and was taken to a hospital right away for medical evaluation after his detention.

These Palestinians are being welcomed back into society. Over the past few decades, more than one million Palestinians have been detained by Israel. And if you look at the images as they come out of Israeli jails, they have diseases on their skin and they’re incredibly frail.

There was one prisoner last week who tried not to hug his family because he had a contagious skin condition known as scabies. The conditions inside Israeli prisons are so horrific and have even gotten worse under the leadership of former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Ben-Gvir pledged to make food rations smaller and to provide less drinking water because, according to him, Palestinians shouldn’t be treated as human beings.


Seven Palestinian prisoners released by Israel admitted to hospitals: NGO

Seven Palestinian prisoners among those released by Israel as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal have been admitted to hospitals upon arriving in Ramallah, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says.

“All the prisoners who were released today are in need of medical care, treatment, and examinations as a result of the brutality they were subjected to during the past months. There are seven who were transferred to hospital,” said Abdullah al-Zaghari, head of the NGO.

The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed seven released prisoners were admitted to hospitals.

In Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a bus carrying 42 freed Palestinian prisoners was welcomed by a cheering crowd.

Among those freed was Eyad Abu Shkaidem, sentenced to 18 life terms in Israel for allegedly organising suicide attacks in revenge for Israel’s 2004 assassinations of Hamas leaders.

“Today, I am reborn,” Shkaidem told reporters upon arrival in Ramallah as the crowd cheered.

Many of the released prisoners appeared in poor health and some complained of ill-treatment. “The occupation humiliated us for more than a year,” said Shkaidem.



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SvennoJ on 08 February 2025

Hamas accuses Israel of ‘slow killing’ of Palestinian prisoners

As we previously reported, seven Palestinians who were released earlier today from Israeli prisons have been admitted to hospital.

Hamas has now issued a statement accusing Israel of adopting a policy that it described as the “slow killing” of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

“The fact that seven prisoners were transferred to hospitals immediately after their release … reflects the systematic assaults and mistreatment of our prisoners by the Israeli prison authorities,” it said.

The Palestinian group added adding that it was “part of the policy of the extremist Israeli government”.

‘It was like we were in Guantanamo Bay prison’

Emotional scenes are taking place outside the European Hospital in Gaza’s southern Khan Younis as dozens of prisoners exited buses after being released by Israel.

Hussein Alhaj Hassan, a healthcare worker taken by Israeli forces, had a tearful reunion with his mother after spending a year in incarceration. He pulled up his pant legs to reveal large scars he said were the result of beatings while in custody.

“They took me along with dozens of people. My problem was I worked for the Ministry of Health. It’s been a year and one day – beatings, torture, and struggle in Ofer Prison,” Alhaj Hassan told Al Jazeera.

“They blindfolded us and beat us – my hands – during interrogation. No medical treatment, no winter clothing. It was very harsh treatment. It was like we were in Guantanamo Bay prison.”

His mother described it as “the best feeling” to have her son returned to her. “I hope all the remaining prisoners will be released as well,” she said. “This is the most beautiful of days to see him alive. We didn’t know anything about his whereabouts.”

Alhaj Hassan said Israeli authorities warned those released not to celebrate their freedom or talk to the media.

“We are supporting Gaza and supporting the resistance. Our lives are just a small price to pay for Gaza,” he said.

‘There was starvation and we were beaten all the time’: Palestinian ex-prisoner

Yasser Abu Azzoum says it is hard to describe his emotions after being released from an Israeli prison today.

“We were informed two days ago about our release and since that time I have not slept a moment, thinking all the time about family members – whether they are still alive or dead,” he told Al Jazeera outside the European Hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, via a translator.

“I have not seen my son Mohammed in 14 months. He is still in prison. I hope he is well,” Abu Azzoum said, before describing the harsh conditions he was subjected to during his imprisonment.

“No food. There was starvation and we were beaten all the time,” he said.

“When I was taken, I was 120kg. Now I am 80kg,” he added.

Former Palestinian prisoner likens Israeli jails to ‘inhumane entities’

Hadeel Shatara, a former Palestinian prisoner released in the first prisoner exchange on January 20, says Palestinian prisoners are mistreated and brutalised in Israeli jails.

“They turned these prisons into big brutal inhumane entities,” Shatara, who was in a Haifa prison for seven months, told Al Jazeera.

“We were really mistreated. All the other prisoners released in the next exchange shared similar experiences. We women prisoners were dragged by our hair.”

She added the “brutality” faced by her and Palestinian prisoners left them uncertain about their fate, until they were reunited with their families.

Shatara said she hopes the ceasefire continues and that Gaza is rebuilt. “We want people in Gaza to live in peace and for the whole world to stand with Gaza.”



SvennoJ on 08 February 2025

Prime Minister Netanyahu ‘weaponised hunger’ in Gaza

I would like to start with the absurd idea that Israelis are upset that the three captives have lost weight. It’s actually far more than absurd, far more than cynical. It’s the ultimate hutzpah, as the Israelis like to refer to it.

Netanyahu, who is unhappy, is sought after by the International Criminal Court for weaponising hunger in Gaza. He’s accused of crimes against humanity for instilling famine in Gaza, using hunger as a weapon of war.

That man is complaining the three Israelis held there lost weight when countless Palestinians have died of starvation? Countless children have died of malnutrition? And he’s the one responsible for all of that.

The other thing is the degree of testimony of Palestinians released from Israeli prisons. I doubt it’s going to be heard throughout the Western world, but Israeli prisons have long turned into torture chambers.


The West mainly focuses on the 3 Israeli hostages

Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners freed as Israel condemns frail appearance of captives

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/08/middleeast/hostages-release-fifth-round-israel-hamas-ceasefire-intl-hnk/index.html

The images during Saturday’s hostage handover have drawn condemnation from Israel. Levy – who was released as he was considered a humanitarian case – appeared particularly frail.

The Israeli government described the scenes as “shocking” and said they “would not go unaddressed,” while Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the freed hostages’ appearances were “disturbing.”

Gershon Baskin, a veteran Israeli negotiator turned peace activist, said Saturday the condition of the released hostages would remind many Israelis of Nazi concentration camp survivors and that it should “compel us all to accelerate the release of all hostages.”


Not until the 16th paragraph does CNN mention the Palestinian hostages, still not mentioning 7 had to be hospitalized, CNN rather focusing on / deflecting with the prison sentences, just one paragraph about the state of the Palestinians released

Meanwhile, Israel freed 183 Palestinians Saturday. Some of the released prisoners were brought from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank to Ramallah, where video of their release showed some detainees weak and thin, with one man appearing so frail that he needed to be carried. Recently released Palestinian prisoners have returned from Israeli detention with signs of physical abuse and starvation, and have alleged abuse and torture. 

And of course: A spokesperson for the Israel Prison Service (IPS) told CNN Saturday that the IPS “operates according to the provisions of the law” and that “all basic rights required are fully applied by professionally trained prison guards.” 



Netanyahu ‘already looking to re-litigate’ the ceasefire agreement

Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat, told Al Jazeera that the mood in Israel today is mixed as “many people are elated and jubilant, but also fear that the next phase [of the ceasefire agreement] may not happen”.

Pinkas pointed out that many people feel anger and resentment towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “choosing to stay at a fancy hotel suite in Washington, DC today”, instead of welcoming the captives home.

“All he cares about right now is the relative stability of his coalition,” Pinkas said. “He accuses the entire world, including the families of the hostages, of trying to undermine him at a time of war. This is not the Netanyahu of savvy instincts of recent years.”

He also said that Netanyahu is actively hostile about advancing the ceasefire agreement with Hamas and will try to use Donald Trump’s plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza as an excuse to resume the war.

“He’s already looking to re-litigate the agreement, saying the Israeli negotiating team was manipulated by Qatar, Egypt and even the Biden administration,” he said.

“He will insert new stipulations [into the ceasefire deal] and then try and collapse it somehow. If that doesn’t work, he will try and initiate more friction in the West Bank and transfer that over into Gaza.”



SvennoJ on 08 February 2025

Israeli air attack kills six and wounds two in eastern Lebanon

An Israeli attack Saturday on a Hezbollah base in eastern Lebanon has killed six people and wounded two others, Lebanese state media has reported.

The state-run Lebanese News Agency (NNA) said the raid which was carried by “an enemy drone on the al-Shaara area adjacent to the town of Jennata, on the slopes of the eastern Lebanon mountain range, resulted in the killing of six people and the wounding of two others”.

The Israeli army said that earlier on Saturday Israeli warplanes conducted what it described as “an intelligence-based strike on Hezbollah operatives in the area of Bekaa in Lebanon”.

The attacks come amid a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, which was agreed in November last year and recently extended until February 18.

Israel’s Netanyahu vows to ‘eliminate Hamas’ and ‘return our hostages’

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated an intention to destroy Hamas and bring home all captives held by the Palestinian group following today’s fifth captive-prisoner exchange as part of the ceasefire deal.

“We will eliminate Hamas, and we will return our hostages,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, denouncing the group as “monsters” after the handover of three captives in Gaza earlier today, during which they appeared emaciated and were compelled to speak on stage.


Israeli negotiators in Qatar ‘unauthorised’ to discuss next phase of Gaza ceasefire: Report

Israel’s negotiating team set to travel to Qatar on Sunday is not authorised to discuss the second phase of a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas, according to the Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

The Israeli team reportedly includes Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the captives, and a former deputy chief of the Shin Bet internal security service, whose name was not disclosed.

Kan said the mandate of the negotiating team is limited to discussing the continuation of the first phase of the agreement.

According to Kan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to extend the first phase of the deal – set to end by March 1 – for as long as possible.



SvennoJ on 08 February 2025

Palestinian man says Israeli forces beat him prior to son’s release

Fakhri Barghouti winced in pain as an ecstatic crowd lifted him onto their shoulders alongside his son Shadi, who was freed from an Israeli prison on Saturday as part of a Gaza ceasefire agreement.

The night before, Israeli forces stormed his family home in the occupied West Bank village of Kobar, warning him not to celebrate his son’s release and assaulting him, he said.

“They entered after midnight, smashed everything, took me into a side room and beat me before leaving,” Barghouti told AFP.

“I was taken to the hospital, where they found that I had a broken rib.”


Rights group says released most prisoners suffer health issues

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society advocacy group says most of the prisoners released by Israel in the continuing ceasefire deal suffer from health problems.

“Today, after 183 prisoners were released in the fifth batch of the first phase, the prisoners’ bodies and their health conditions, and the need for some of them to be transferred to the hospital, reflected the level of atrocities that the prisoners were exposed to over the past period in the occupation prisons,” it said.

“In addition to all this, we remind you that the occupation did not stop at its crimes against prisoners, but also practised organised terrorism against their families.”

The Prisoner’s Society noted that there were still more than 10,000 prisoners in Israeli prisons, and the number did not include all the people detained in Gaza.


Gaza at risk from ‘mind-boggling’ amount of unexploded ordnance, aid group warns

Unexploded bombs and shells buried in the ruins of Gaza could kill or injure thousands of people in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory in the future, an aid organisation has warned.

The volume of ordnance dropped by Israel on Gaza during 15 months of conflict was “mind-boggling”, said Simon Elmont, a de-mining expert with Handicap International – Humanity & Inclusion.

“The amount of ordnance that has been fired is an enormous quantity,” Elmont told the AFP news agency, adding that between nine and 13 percent of munitions fail to explode on initial impact.

“It is going to be tens of thousands of unexploded ordnance, that’s for sure,” he added.

He said that the contamination level in Gaza was massive, and much of the ordnance “lies mainly within the rubble and underneath the surface of Gaza”.


UNRWA calls for more support in occupied West Bank

Director of UNRWA Affairs for the occupied West Bank says that, despite “immense challenges”, the UN agency is continuing its work of delivering aid and health services to displaced Palestinians in Jenin and Tulkarm camps.

“Urgent support is needed,” Roland Friedrich posted on X.

The Israeli military began an offensive two days after a ceasefire was agreed in Gaza, targeting Jenin city, its refugee camp and other towns including Tulkarm, killing 25 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.



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SvennoJ on 08 February 2025

Israeli forces to begin withdrawing from Netzarim Corridor: Reports

The Israeli military will begin a complete withdrawal from Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor tonight, according to reports in the Israeli media.

Yedioth Ahronoth is reporting that the army the 162nd Division will redeploy to near the border and the evacuation of Netzarim will mean the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the northern Gaza Strip.

Per the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli military is supposed to withdraw completely from the Netzarim Corridor, which bisects Gaza, and allow free movement back and forth between the southern and northern parts of the Gaza Strip.

The Netzarim Corridor, which contained an illegal Israeli settlement between 1972 to 2005, was seen as important to the ambitions of Israeli settlers to re-establish a settlement in the area.

Al Jazeera Arabic has obtained footage showing Israeli soldiers burning some of their belongings before the withdrawal.



Israel’s channel 12 airs video of Israeli officer issuing order to withdraw from Netzarim

Channel 12 Israel has aired a video showing an Israeli military officer issuing instructions to his soldiers to withdraw from the Netzarim Corridor.

“We are preparing for the final exit from the Netzarim. The order of exit is the same as the entry,” the Israeli army officer says.

“We will return here, do not worry. Hamas is preparing, but we are also preparing. We will return and we will recover all the kidnapped. God willing, the Trump plan will go into effect and we will return to settlement here and build all the settlements. Please confirm receipt.”


Israel’s withdrawal from Netzarim Corridor marks major step in ceasefire

Israel’s withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor is very, very significant. First of all, it’s significant because, throughout the war, the Israeli army and the Israeli government were saying, “There is no way we’re going to leave the Netzarim Corridor”.

This exit from that area shows the ceasefire is moving forward.

Despite all the difficulties, it’s also important for aid agencies as movement from the south to the north and back will now be a lot easier than it used to be.

Keeping in mind that Gaza is pretty much destroyed and moving is difficult, but the fact that the Israeli army is not there will make everything easier, including the transfer of goods and the transfer of humanitarian assistance.

So strategically and politically, this is a very important signal that the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces is now plausible.



SvennoJ on 08 February 2025

Main events on February 8th

  • Israel and Hamas have successfully carried out their fifth exchange, with three Israeli captives freed for 183 Palestinian prisoners.
  • Seven of the released Palestinian prisoners were transferred to hospital for immediate treatment following their release, with others describing horrific conditions, including isolation and torture, in Israeli jails.
  • The Israeli military has begun withdrawing from the so-called Netzarim Corridor, which cuts off north Gaza from the south, in line with the ceasefire deal agreed upon with Hamas.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the deployment of a negotiating team to the Qatari capital, Doha, to discuss “technical details” of the truce deal, and will hold a security cabinet meeting upon his return from the United States regarding negotiations about the second phase of the agreement, his office says.
  • Senior Hamas official Basem Naim tells Al Jazeera that Israel’s continued violations of the ceasefire deal, including delays in the entry of food, medicine and tents into Gaza, are “threatening to collapse” the agreement.
  • Israeli forces bombed eastern Lebanon, killing at least six people, in violation of the truce agreed on with Hezbollah, and attacked what it called a Hamas weapons cache in southern Syria.

Netanyahu’s crocodile tears over captives are ‘beyond absurd’

Speaking about the frail, disoriented appearance of today’s freed Israeli captives, Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, said, “People are starving in Gaza. Children are dying of malnutrition. Because Netanyahu has weaponised hunger and famine.”

“Incidentally”, said Bishara, “that’s why Netanyahu is sought by the ICC”.

“Netanyahu is complaining that three individuals lost weight when the entire Gaza Strip was ‘put on a diet’, as the racists in the Israeli government said. It’s beyond absurd. It’s beyond racist. The real issue is that thousands of Palestinian prisoners have been tortured in Israel’s jails.”

Elsewhere, Bishara suggested that today’s “theatrical scenes of Hamas during the exchanges will rub Netanyahu the wrong way, by proving once again that Hamas is not defeated”.

On the other hand, Bishara said that Netanyahu “has succeeded” with the undeclared objective of the total destruction of Gaza.

“[But] I don’t think the Israeli establishment really cares about Gaza. It wishes to cut it off and push it into the sea. What it really cares about is the West Bank and the Golan Heights – they think that would secure the [Israeli] settlement for future generations.”

He added: “Zionism is responsible for turning Israelis into occupiers, the torturers, the racists.”



Palestinian Authority warns against Israel’s continued ‘ethnic cleansing’ in West Bank

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has warned of Israel’s ongoing “ethnic cleansing” in the northern occupied West Bank and called for a “firm” international response to force Israel to stop its crimes in refugee camps.

The ministry issued a statement warning “against the continued Israeli occupation forces committing the crime of ethnic cleansing and enforcing forced deportation and displacement of our people from the camps in northern the West Bank, emptying them of their residents, as is the case in the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Far’a camps, in a blatant violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and the Geneva Conventions”.

The Israeli military offensive, which began on January 21 in the northern occupied West Bank, targeted Jenin city, its refugee camp, and surrounding towns, killing 25 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Alongside the continuing operation in Jenin camp, the Israeli army has raided several neighbouring towns, including Qabatiya and Burqin.



SvennoJ on 08 February 2025

Chris Hedges: The Western Way of Genocide


The genocide in Gaza portends the emergence of a dystopian world where the industrialized violence of the Global North is used to sustain its hoarding of diminishing resources and wealth.

BBC Israel Bias TAKEN APART By British-Palestinian Leader


The brilliant Aimee Shalan is Chair of the British Palestinian Committee - www.britpalcommittee.co.uk - and Director of Makan - https://www.makan.org.uk/

Trump’s Plan to Distract and Overwhelm, EXPLAINED


“It is about numbing us. It is about making the public not be able to keep up, journalists not be able to keep up.”

In the first weeks of his second term, President Donald Trump has intentionally used “shock and awe” tactics. Naomi Klein joins Mehdi Hasan on ‘Unshocked’ to unpack Trump’s seemingly endless series of draconian executive orders, including ending DEI in the government, freezing federal money and grants, and ordering ICE to raid migrant communities – including in church!

“They're sending that fear through every institution. And, of course, with the shocking immigration raids, it is a very tangible fear,” Naomi says to Mehdi. “It's designed to make you curl up in a ball and give up.”

Watch the full conversation to hear about why Trump and the billionaire tech oligarchs are not worried about “burning down” US institutions, the use of ‘shock and awe’ during the Iraq War, and Democrats' failure to be a trusted messenger.



SvennoJ on 08 February 2025

How Israel tests military tech on Palestinians | The Palestine Laboratory E1


Uncovering how Israel profits from surveillance technologies using occupied Palestinian territories as a testing ground.

Israel punches way above its weight when it comes to arms sales. The 97th country by population, it is the ninth largest arms dealer in the world with a $13bn military-industrial complex.

"Plenty of countries sell weapons," says award-winning journalist Antony Loewenstein, "but what makes Israel's industry unique is the mix of weapons, surveillance technology and architectural techniques that combine to create a comprehensive system for controlling 'difficult' populations and are based on years of experience in Palestine."

In this two-part series, Loewenstein goes on a journey to investigate how these weapons and surveillance technologies are used to control and repress Palestinians in Palestine before being sold all over the world.

Antony Loewenstein is a Jewish, Australian journalist and author who for more than 20 years has written unflinchingly about Israel and its relationship with the Palestinians, even though it has often put him at odds with many in the Jewish diaspora and Israel.

In Episode 1, Loewenstein returns to Israel to investigate how cutting-edge military and surveillance technology is being used on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, before being marketed to international clients as "field-proven" and "battle-tested".

Hearing from Palestinians and Israelis, he uncovers how a pipeline of personnel and research from the Israeli army feeds into semi-private arms companies which form a crucial part of Israel's exports to the world. He also investigates the Israeli army's use of targeting systems that utilise artificial intelligence during the Gaza war after October 7, 2023.

How is Israel’s military tech marketed abroad? | The Palestine Laboratory E2


In Episode 2 of "The Palestine Laboratory", journalist and author Antony Loewenstein investigates how surveillance and military technology developed by Israel and tested on Palestinians is marketed abroad. He finds out how the latest Israeli technology is being used to monitor refugees and migrants in Greece and along the US-Mexico border.

Loewenstein visits Mexico to explore its use of Israeli spyware and travels to India to find out how a thriving arms trade is fostering close links between the two nations. In South Africa, he uncovers a hidden aspect of the country's history which saw a secret relationship between the apartheid-era government and Israel centred on a clandestine arms trade and shared values.

What he reveals is a picture of how the "technology of occupation" developed on Palestinians is also used to subjugate people and surveil political dissidents, human rights defenders and journalists all over the world.

Loewenstein concludes by asking if the countries buying these systems are actually looking for more than just another weapon, but instead buying into a wider ideology of the separation and control of "unwanted" populations, be they protesting farmers, political dissidents, or refugees.

George Orwell's 1984 is here. This ties right into Chris Hedges: The Western Way of Genocide (post above)



SvennoJ on 09 February 2025

Saudi Arabia condemns Netanyahu’s comments on Palestinians’ displacement

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry has issued a statement rejecting Netanyahu’s suggestion and thanking the Arab countries for their condemnation of the Israeli prime minister’s comments.

The ministry said it rejected 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”.

It added, “The kingdom affirms 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.”



Jordan slams Netanyahu’s Saudi comments

Foreign Ministry spokesman Sufian Qudah called the Israeli leader’s comments a “flagrant violation of international law” and affirmed Jordan’s “full support and solidarity with” Saudi Arabia. He called Netanyahu’s statements “aggressive” and “provocative”.

“The Israeli government will not succeed in covering up the fact that the continued occupation and violation of the rights of the Palestinian people are the basis of the conflict in the region,” Qudah added.

Egypt and Palestine have also decried the suggestion.


GCC decries Netanyahu’s comments on Saudi Arabia

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council has “condemned in the strongest terms” the Israeli prime minister’s comment on the establishment of a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia.

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 disrespect for international and UN laws and treaties and the sovereignty of states”.

He affirmed the “firm and steadfast position of the Kingdom and the GCC countries to support the Palestinian people in obtaining their legitimate rights”, the necessity of achieving a two-state solution and establishing an independent Palestinian state with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.

The official also renewed his call on the international community to “stand seriously and decisively against these aggressive Israeli statements, which pose a threat and danger to the security and stability of the region and the world as a whole”.


Iraq, Kuwait reject Netanyahu’s comments on Saudi Arabia

More regional states have come out to condemn the Israeli prime minister’s comments on the establishment of a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia.

Iraq and Kuwait both rejected the proposal and issued statements in support of the kingdom’s sovereignty.

“The Foreign Ministry expresses Iraq’s full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and affirms its firm position in supporting the security, stability, and sovereignty of countries,” the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.

Kuwait denounced “any attempts to displace the brotherly Palestinian people” and praised “all the efforts made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other countries to restore all the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people”, its Foreign Ministry stated.


Qatar condemns Netanyahu’s Saudi Arabia comments

The Qatari Foreign Ministry has condemned “provocative statements” made by the Israeli prime minister about establishing a Palestinian state on Saudi territory.

The Gulf state considers the comments a “blatant violation of international law and a clear breach of the United Nations Charter” and calls on the international community to firmly confront Israeli provocations, the ministry said in a statement.

Qatar said calls for the forced displacement of Palestinians “would obstruct peace efforts and further escalate tensions in the region” and emphasised that a “just and sustainable peace cannot be achieved without enabling the Palestinian people to exercise sovereignty over their land”.

“Furthermore, the Ministry reaffirms the steadfast position of the State of Qatar in supporting the legitimacy and justness of the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, including the establishment of their independent state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on Channel 14 who mistakenly said “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state”, before correcting himself.