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

Rasa - 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.

News ID: 426441

Date: 10 January 2017 - 23:09

RNA - 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.

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.

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