Palestinian Authority and Arab League condemn ruling Saturday Czech Republic to open a diplomatic office in Jerusalem, stressing that this is a violation of international law.
Prague inaugurated a branch of its embassy in Israel, located in Tel Aviv, on Thursday in Jerusalem.
The opening of the diplomatic office was attended by Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis, two weeks after the Israel sent 5,000 doses of Moderna vaccine against covid-19 to the Czech Republic as part of “vaccine diplomacy”, a program which was later frozen after questions were raised about its legality.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry described the Prague move as a “clear attack on the Palestinian people and their rights and a clear violation of international law” and said it would damage the prospects for peace in the region.
“The legal status of Jerusalem will be affected by a country’s decision to open a diplomatic mission,” Cairo Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit said in a statement. “East Jerusalem is under occupation under international law.”
Stressing that the office in Jerusalem is not an embassy, ​​the Czech Foreign Ministry responded that it aims to strengthen the country’s strategic cooperation with Israel and improve the services provided to Czech citizens living there.
“The establishment of the office does not affect the Czech Republic’s intention to further develop its political and economic relations with the Palestinian Authority,” he added.
The Jerusalem regime is one of the most thorny issues in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israel annexed East Jerusalem along with the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, a move that has not been recognized internationally, and considers the city its capital. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to become the capital of their future state.
Babis described Israel as a “strategic partner” and hailed the inauguration of the new office as a “milestone in our cooperation.”
Only two countries have embassies in Jerusalem: the United States, after former President Donald Trump overturned decades of politics and recognized the city as the capital of Israel, and Guatemala.
Although it officially supports the two-state solution in the Middle East, the Czech Republic has been cited by the International Criminal Court as one of the countries supporting Israel’s argument that the tribunal should not investigate war crimes in the Palestinian territories.
Babis stressed on Thursday that “the Czech Republic does not consider Palestine a state and therefore the Court has no jurisdiction there.”
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