JEDDAH: The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned what it described as a blatant Israeli intrusion by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a Palestinian-controlled area of the Jordan Valley.
It said the incident was a provocative action carried out with the aim of expanding Israeli settlement activity that violates international law and resolutions designed to prevent such actions, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu, accompanied by Israeli army commanders, visited part of the valley close to the border with Jordan and announced his intention to build a wall along the border to prevent what he described as attempts to smuggle weapons and fighters into the West Bank and Israel. It is a revival of a project initially proposed by Israeli authorities about 20 years ago.
The ministry said such violations harm efforts to ease tensions in the region and to provide protection for civilians in the Palestinian territories.
It reiterated the important need for an end to Israel’s aggression in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the territory, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes, and increased flows of humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people.
The ministry also renewed its call for the international community to fully live up to its responsibility to do all it can to halt all Israeli aggression against Palestinians and their territories, and stressed the need for mechanisms to ensure accountability for actions in Gaza and to help end actions by Israeli authorities that threaten security and undermine peace efforts in the region.
