Palestine Liberation Organisation says Trump declaration destroys two-state solution
By AFP | Published: 07th December 2017 01:10 AM |
Last Updated: 07th December 2017 01:10 AM | A+A A- |
Donald Trump's decision to move the US embassy will probably take years to implement, but the repercussions of Trump's decision are likely to be swift. (File | AP)
JERICHO: The secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation said US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital Wednesday destroys any hopes for a two-state solution to the conflict.
"He destroyed the two-state solution," Saeb Erekat, who long served as the Palestinians top negotiator, told journalists after Trump's speech.
Trump "disqualified his country from any role whatsoever" in the peace process, he said.
READ: Donald Trump recognises disputed city Jerusalem as Israel's capital
"As a chief Palestinian negotiator, how can I sit with these people if they dictate on me the future of Jerusalem as Israel's capital," he added.
Erekat warned that "it is really throwing the whole region into chaos, international chaos."
The two-state solution has long been the basis of international peace efforts for the conflict.
Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital, while the Palestinians see the eastern sector of the city as the capital of their future state.
"I think tonight he is strengthening the forces of extremists in this region as no one has done before," Erekat said, referring to Trump.
