The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has “condemned in the strongest terms” a comment from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the establishment of a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia, Al Jazeera reports.

Netanyahu, correcting an interviewer who said “Saudi state”, had quipped: “Unless you want the Palestinian state to be in Saudi Arabia, they have a lot of territory.”

GCC 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”, Al Jazeera added.