OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
Far-right Israeli security minister Itamar Ben Gvir decided on Monday to shut down the al-Quds Fund and Endowment Office in Occupied Jerusalem, claiming the office was carrying out activities on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
In a statement, the Jerusalem Governorate condemned Ben Gvir’s decision as a “hostile step” and “part of the occupation’s systematic efforts to undermine the Palestinian presence in their occupied capital and part of its open-ended war against the Jerusalemite institutions.”
The Jerusalem Governorate described Ben Gvir’s claim against the al-Quds Fund and Endowment Office as “baseless and untrue,” affirming that the office operates solely as a non-political entity, focusing exclusively on social, humanitarian, and charitable endeavors.
For its part, the PA ministry of foreign affairs called the Israeli decision to close the al-Quds Fund and Endowment Office “another facet of genocide, displacement and annexation,” and “part of the Judaization crimes happening in Jerusalem.”
In its statement, the ministry said that the office joined many charitable and humanitarian institutions and organizations that had been closed previously in Jerusalem for their role in serving Jerusalemite citizens.
The ministry expressed its belief that such a measure against the office would place further restrictions on the lives of Jerusalemite citizens with the aim of forcing them to leave their city.
The ministry held the international community responsible for its failure to enforce international resolutions concerning Palestine, particularly those addressing the situation in Jerusalem.
