Palestine urges US to retract from building embassy in Jerusalem

RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Palestinian Presidency urged the US on Thursday to retract plans to build its embassy in Jerusalem because it will be built on Palestinian "private property."

The statement was in response to Israeli approval plans submitted by the US to build the embassy on lands the statement said were confiscated from Palestinian owners by Israel in 1948.

It described the move as "illegal" and "a violation of international law" because it will be built "on private property confiscated in 1948 from Palestinian owners, some of whom are holders of US citizenship."

The presidency said moving ahead with building the embassy "gives legitimacy to racist Israeli laws such as the absentee property law designed to legitimize the theft of Palestinian property."

It added that the move is a "joint American-Israeli blow to any remaining hopes for a two-state solution."

Former President Donald Trump announced the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017. The US moved its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May the following year.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Mideast conflict, with Palestinians insisting that East Jerusalem -- illegally occupied by Israel since 1967 -- should serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar