According to the Washington Post, the US Embassy to Israel will be based in a zone of East Jerusalem considered occupied territory under international law.
Part of the diplomatic compound that is scheduled to open as the embassy in just two months lies in the Arnona neighborhood, a contested No Man’s Land between East and West Jerusalem. Israel took control of the area in the 1967 war and so it is still considered occupied territory by the United Nations.
In two months, the United States plans to open a new embassy to fulfill Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. There's just one problem: The embassy may not be fully in Israel. https://t.co/cr9p4vULZS
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 8, 2018
“No Man’s Land is occupied territory,” said Ashraf Khatib of PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department. “Any permanent status for that territory should be part of a final status negotiation.”
The decision to move the embassy follows US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem last year that caused outrage across the world.
French President Blasts Trump’s Decision to Move U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem https://t.co/1lf8DkLWVS pic.twitter.com/dyqotfEk1q
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) March 9, 2018
In response to the proposed relocation of the embassy, Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) chief negotiator, said the move shows,
“a determination to violate international law, destroy the two-state solution and provoke the feelings of the Palestinian people as well as of all Arabs, Muslims, and Christians around the globe.”
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
