Arab FMs to meet in February on Jerusalem

CAIRO: Arab foreign ministers will meet early next month to discuss steps against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the Arab League said on Wednesday.

The meeting of the League’s Council will be held on Feb. 1 in Cairo, its general secretariat said in a memo obtained by AFP.

Trump’s decision in December to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv sparked deadly clashes in Palestinian territories and was rejected in a non-binding UN General Assembly resolution.

Jordan said on Saturday that the League would seek international recognition of the Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital following the US move.

In a resolution after an emergency meeting in December, Arab foreign ministers urged the US to rescind its decision and said Washington had “withdrawn itself as a sponsor and broker” of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed East Jerusalem in a move never recognized by the international community.

The city’s status is among the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its united capital, while the Palestinians see the eastern sector as the capital of their future state.

The international community does not recognize the ancient city as Israel’s capital, insisting the issue can only be resolved in negotiations.