News   /   Palestine

Abbas warns Trump over US embassy relocation to Jerusalem al-Quds

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends the Christmas Midnight Mass for the Greek Orthodox at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on January 7, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly penned a letter to US President-elect Donald Trump, calling on him not to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Trump repeatedly said during his campaign that if elected, he would not hesitate to relocate the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds, which is regarded by Palestinians as their future capital. The controversial decision has evoked Palestinians' bitter opposition.  

According to Palestinian news agency Wafa on Monday, Abbas warned in his letter that such a move would have a "disastrous impact on the peace process, on the two-state solution and on the stability and security of the entire region."  

The report also said that Abbas had sent letters to the leaders of Russia, China, and the European Union, asking them to "spare no effort" to stop the US from making such a move.

During a speech on Friday, Abbas warned that “any statement or position that disrupts or changes the status of Jerusalem al-Quds is a red line which we will never accept.”   

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has already warned the US against moving its embassy to Jerusalem al-Quds, saying all American embassies in the Arab world would have to close in the face of popular Arab outrage that would follow such an action.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and US President-elect Donald Trump shake hands during a meeting at the Trump Tower in New York on September 25, 2016. 

On Tuesday, US Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Dean Heller introduced the so-called Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act after being sworn into the 115th Congress in Washington.

Similar moves by Republican majorities over the past two decades have been unsuccessful, but this time they are supported by the president-elect.

In September, Trump, who was the Republican presidential front-runner at the time, promised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s undivided capital if he emerged triumphant in the US presidential election.


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku