Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan condemn Netanyahu’s remarks on displacing Gazans via Rafah crossing

CAIRO – 5 September 2025: The Qatari, Saudi and Jordanian foreign ministries have condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks, in which he suggested displacing Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt via the Rafah border crossing.

Saudi Arabia denounced the Israeli plans to displace Gaza residents and the use of besiege and starvation to achieve this goal as a breach of international laws and principles and the humanitarian standards.

“Saudi Arabia affirms full solidarity with the brothers in Egypt in this regard,” said the foreign ministry.

The Kingdom called for the international community, especially the permanent members of the UN Security Council, to intervene to halt Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and to reject their displacement “regardless of any justification.”

‘Collective Punishment to Force Displacement’

Meanwhile, Qatar described Netanyahu’s remarks as “a continuation of the occupation’s approach of violating the Palestinian people’s rights, disregard for international laws and agreements, and malicious attempts to undermine prospects for peace, particularly the two-state solution.”

The Qatari foreign ministry that “the policy of collective punishment practiced by the occupation against the Palestinians, including the ongoing brutal war of genocide in the Gaza Strip, its crimes in the West Bank, violations of holy sites, settlement expansion plans, attempts to Judaize Jerusalem, and restrictions on humanitarian aid, will not succeed in forcing the Palestinian people to abandon their land or relinquish their legitimate rights.”

Israel is currently facing multiple accusations of genocide and war crimes related to its military operations in Gaza, with proceedings underway at both the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Since the start of the war in October 2023, Israel has killed 64,300 Palestinians in Gaza only, many of them women and children, and injured over 162,000 more, according to the enclave’s health ministry.

Israeli has also destroyed homes and crucial facilities including hospitals and schools, forced most of the population to flee their homes, and plunged the enclave into a famine that has killed 373 people, including 134 children.

‘Displacement via Rafah Crossing’

Netanyahu drew condemnation from Egypt after stating in an interview that he could allow the people of Gaza to leave through the Rafah crossing, but Egypt will “immediately block” them.

Netanyahu claimed that Egypt is “imprisoning against their will residents in Gaza who want to leave a war zone.”

Egypt has roundly rejected US-Israeli schemes to evacuate 2.2 million Palestinians from Gaza toward Sinai over nearly two years of unrelenting Israeli war.

President Abdel Fatath El-Sisi has reiterated that the Palestinian displacement is a red line for Egypt and will not be permitted.

Sisi has urged Palestinians to stay steadfast and “remain on their land” to avoid the liquidation of the Palestinian cause.

The president recently stressed that Egypt will “remain a gateway for aid [to Gaza] not for displacement.”

The Jordanian foreign ministry also condemned Netanyahu, describing Israeli plans on displacing Palestinians from their lands as “a war crime that the Kingdom will confront with all available means.”

Jordan affirmed supporting Egypt’s stance on rejecting Palestinian displacement.

'Inviolable Red Line'

Egypt’s foreign ministry stated that Netanyahu’s statements are part of ongoing efforts “to prolong the escalation in the region and entrench instability, in an attempt to avoid facing the consequences of Israel’s violations in Gaza, both domestically and internationally.”

Egypt reiterated its firm rejection of “any forced or voluntary displacement of the Palestinian people from their land,” condemning Israel’s “continued targeting of civilians, civil infrastructure, and various aspects of daily life to compel Palestinians to leave.”

“Egypt reaffirms that it will never be a party to this injustice through the liquidation of the Palestinian cause or by serving as a gate for displacement. This matter remains a red line that will not change.”

Cairo called for “activating mechanisms of accountability for these declared crimes, which are increasingly being used as tools of political propaganda in Israel due to the absence of international justice.”

Egypt urged the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, to provide protection for the Palestinian people and support their continued presence on their land in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

It also calls for pressure on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories, expressing rejection of “any attempt to force the Palestinian people to choose between remaining under Israeli bombardment and systematic starvation or being expelled from their homeland.”