European countries at the UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Friday criticized the US president Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and affirmed that East Jerusalem is an occupied Palestinian territory.
This was voiced in a joint statement delivered by the ambassadors of the European Union (EU) countries at the UNSC meeting in New York in response to the US announcement on Wednesday of its decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Occupied Jerusalem.
The ambassadors said that the US decision contradicts the UNSC resolutions and negatively affects peace prospects in the region. They noted that the status of Jerusalem should be determined through direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
“Based on international law and the relevant UNSC resolutions especially 476 478 and 2334 we consider East Jerusalem part of the occupied Palestinian territories” they pointed out.
The European ambassadors added “The EU will not recognize any changes on the pre-1967 borders including those related to Jerusalem except those agreed upon by the two parties.”
They concluded their statement by calling on all parties and those concerned to work to maintain peace in the region.
Many Arab Muslim and Western countries on Friday witnessed mass demonstrations while two Palestinians were killed and hundreds were injured in the confrontations that flared up in the occupied Palestinian territories in protest at the latest US move.
