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Palestine condemns Fiji's decision to open embassy to Israel in Jerusalem

February 19, 2025 at 1:34 pm

Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka speaks during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People on August 20, 2024 in Beijing, China [Andres Martinez Casares-Pool/Getty Images]

Palestine has strongly condemned Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s decision to open the country’s embassy to Israel in Jerusalem, calling it a violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions.

The Palestinian Authority Foreign Ministry and the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, issued separate statements late on Tuesday, urging the Fijian government to reverse its decision.

According to the ministry, the Fijian decision is “an act of aggression against the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights,” and it impedes “prospects for peace based on the principle of the two-state solution.”

Hamas, meanwhile, described the move as “a blatant assault on the rights of our Palestinian people to their land and a clear violation of international law and UN resolutions, which recognise Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory.”

On Tuesday, the Fijian Foreign Ministry announced on its official website that the country’s Cabinet has approved the establishment of an embassy to Israel in Jerusalem. If the decision is carried out, Fiji will become the seventh country to have embassies in Jerusalem after the US, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea and Paraguay.

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