Palestinian officials rejected on Tuesday US President Donald Trump’s call to return to peace negotiations, saying that he has isolated himself and Washington from any role in the political operation when he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
They therefore added that they may suspend recognition of Israel as a state and seek to “internationalize” the conflict.
Senior negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Palestinians will suspend recognition of Israel in response to Trump’s decision on Jerusalem.
“Trump wanted to remove Jerusalem from the negotiations table,” he said in a statement. “Instead, he has removed the United States from the negotiations table. We have no option but to implement the recommendations of the Central Council to suspend recognition of Israel until Israel recognizes Palestine.”
Trump had said during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he himself may inaugurate the US Embassy in Jerusalem in May, expressing pride with his decision.
Mohammad Ashtiya, Fatah member and a close adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, stated that the Palestinian Authority will not return to the negotiations table and that bilateral negotiations yielded no results.
“No matter what, the Palestinian authority will not return to this path. This approach is over,” he said, accusing the US administration of being part of the problem.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs slammed Trump and his administration, saying that it did not derive lessons from the disastrous decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
In a statement, the ministry said that Trump’s statements affirm that he is misreading the facts of the Palestinian-Israeli struggle.
It stressed that there can be no solution without the Palestinian people regaining their national rights.
There can be no solution for the struggle unless East Jerusalem is declared the capital of Palestine, it added.
