Palestinian Authority threatens to scrap recognition of Israel over Donald Trump's proposed US embassy move

Senior member of Fatah also demands that Israel recognise Palestine as a state with Jerusalem as its capital

(Reuters)

A senior Palestinian politician has said that if the US follows through with President Donald Trump’s election campaign promise to move the country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the Palestinian Authority (PA) could withdraw its recognition of the Jewish state.

Speaking to the Voice of Palestine radio station on Tuesday, Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, said the PA was planning “retaliatory measures” if the embassy were to be relocated, including the escalation of Palestinian “peaceful popular resistance.”

“[We would also] demand that Israel recognise Palestine as a state with Jerusalem as its capital,” he added.

Jerusalem is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians as their capital. Most countries maintain embassies to Israel in Tel Aviv. Israel annexed East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War in a move which has never been recognised by the international community.

Several prospective US presidents have promised to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, but none have actually followed through with the controversial move. Mr Abbas has written to Mr Trump asking him to reconsider the idea, warning it would "unleash the gates of hell."

Observers fear such a decision could spark violence and signal the US is no longer interested in pursuing a two-state solution.

Earlier this week the White House press secretary Sean Spicer appeared cautious, telling reporters that Mr Trump’s administration was in the “very beginning stages” of discussing a potential relocation.

Also on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Hamas, the militant organisation that runs the Gaza Strip, said that Mr Trump would “add oil to the fire” by following through on the campaign promise.