The Palestinian Authority on Saturday expressed full support for the leadership of Saudi Arabia, in the wake of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey by Saudi security officials.
The official PA news agency Wafa issued a short statement saying that "the State of Palestine stresses that the Saudi Arabian Kingdom under the leadership of the custodian of the two holy places, King Salman Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will continue to be a state of justice, values and principles.”
The statement further noted that "the State of Palestine praises the decisions taken by the custodian of the two holy places emphasizing the establishment of justice, integrity, facts and law."
The statement came hours after Saudi Arabia admitted for the first time that Khashoggi was killed after entering the consulate in Istanbul.
A report on Saudi Arabia's state-owned television channel said that Khashoggi was murdered at the consulate earlier this month after a brawl broke out. According to the report, the meeting "did not go as required and developed in a negative way, leading to a fight and a quarrel".
"The brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened".
Deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri was reportedly fired over the incident, along with a senior aide to the Crown Prince. Another 18 men involved were arrested over their role in the affair.
Turkish police concluded two weeks ago that Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist who was also a contributor to The Washington Post, was murdered inside the Saudi mission in Istanbul after going missing.
Saudi Arabia had initially denied the Turkish claims.