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Saudi Arabia has accused the Israeli government of pursuing an 'extremist, occupying mentality' amid a growing row over the claim it could house millions of Palestinians on its land.
In a strongly worded statement on Sunday, its Foreign Ministry accused Israel of "continuous crimes" and "ethnic cleansing" of the Palestinian people.
It followed comments made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to an Israeli TV channel, saying: “The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there."
The Saudi statement on Sunday mentioned Mr Netanyahu's name but did not directly refer to the comments about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi territory. The UAE and Egypt are among the Arab states to condemn Mr Netanyahu's suggestion.
"The kingdom stresses its categorical rejection to 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 Saudi Foreign Ministry said.
They are not intruders or immigrants to it who can be expelled whenever the brutal Israeli occupation wishes
Saudi foreign ministry
"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 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."
It stressed that only a two-state solution can lead to peace.
In the UAE, Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, Minister of State, expressed his country's full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and said it is standing with it against any threat to its security, stability and sovereignty. He said the kingdom's sovereignty is a “red line”.
Mr Al Marar also stressed the UAE's categorical rejection of any infringement on the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people or attempts to displace them.
He called for the need to halt settlement activities that threaten regional stability and undermine opportunities for peace and coexistence, and urged the international community, the UN and the Security Council to assume their responsibilities and put an end to illegal practices that contravene international law.
The UAE's statement was echoed by Palestinian and Egyptian officials over the weekend.
Qatar, a mediator in Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel condemned on Sunday Mr Netanyahu's comments as "provocative", the Qatari Foreign Ministry said.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
