Saudi Arabia contradicts Trump: No ties to Israel without Palestinian state

Saudi Arabia reasserted its support for an independent state for Palestinians and warned it would not forge diplomatic relations with Israel after President Trump floated the U.S. taking over the Gaza Strip.

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia also stresses what it had previously announced regarding its absolute rejection of infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, annexation of Palestinian lands or efforts to displace the Palestinian people from their land,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement released Wednesday morning local time, just hours after Trump made the surprising remarks regarding the future of the territory.

Saudi Arabia was one of many U.S. allies that rejected Trump’s suggestion that America “take over” war-ravaged Gaza and reaffirmed its support for a two-state solution in the region.

Trump said during a Tuesday press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was visiting Washington, that the U.S. could take over Gaza, clearing the land of unexploded bombs and developing the area’s economy.

“Saudi Arabia is going to be very helpful, and they have been very helpful. They want peace in the Middle East,” Trump said.

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too — whether we’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out,” he added.

Saudi Arabia rejected the potential permanent displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, writing that they “will remain steadfast on their land and will not move from it” and adding that the Kingdom’s position is nonnegotiable and not “subject to compromises.”

Saudi Arabia’s normalization with Israel is something the current administration is looking to move forward. The U.S. orchestrated the Abraham Accords during Trump’s first term in the White House, a deal that established normalized relations between Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Israel.

“I think you’ll make that into an international, unbelievable place. … I don’t want to be cute, I don’t want to be a wise guy, but the Riviera of the Middle East. … This could be so magnificent,” Trump said.

When he was asked about potentially deploying U.S. troops to Gaza, he said Washington will “do what is necessary.”

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