PA slams Netanyahu remarks on Jerusalem division 

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has criticised  statements made by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Jerusalem’s geographical division, saying that the remarks “disagree with the peace process and deny the Palestinian existence in the occupied city.”

An official statement by the PA’s foreign ministry described Netanyahu as “racist denying the occupation’s existence.”

It explained that Israel pursues what it described as an “incitement strategy” over the truth of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Jerusalem and its history, identity and culture, especially during US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region.

Read: Netanyahu pledges that Al-Aqsa Mosque will remain occupied ‘forever’

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ top diplomatic adviser, Majdi Al-Khalidi, yesterday condemned the so-called US-led regional peace process which would see Arab states partially thawing their relations with Israel as a first step toward restarting peace talks. “There is no regional peace process or anything like it,” he said, adding “No one is talking about it with us, or with anyone.”

On Wednesday, in a Knesset session and marking Jerusalem Day, Netanyahu said that the Palestinian refusal to recognise the Jewish state and its capital is the “root of the conflict”, pledging that the holy city including “the Temple Mount and the Western Wall will forever remain under Israeli sovereignty”.