Palestinians have condemned the recent remarks by US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who said he would recognize East Jerusalem al-Quds as the “undivided capital” of Israel, if elected president.
Trump made the pledge on Sunday in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York.
"Trump's statement shows disregard for international law, [and] longstanding US foreign policy regarding the status of Jerusalem," said Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), in a statement.
Erekat added that such remarks "show a total abandonment of the two-state solution, international law and UN resolutions.”
In response to the US Republican candidate’s comments, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry also issued a statement criticizing Trump and his Democrat rival, Hillary Clinton, accusing the candidates of siding with Israel at the expense of the Palestinians.
"The state of Palestine will not serve as a bargaining chip for gaining the Jewish vote in the United States," the statement said.
Israel occupied the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds in 1967.
The Palestinian Authority, which administers the occupied West Bank, views the city as the capital of its future state. Palestinians have also resisted numerous Israeli plans for exerting full control over the territory.
The occupied territories have witnessed increased tensions ever since Israeli forces imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds in August 2015.
Nearly 250 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October.
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