GAZA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2020) The Palestinian leadership on Thursday slammed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's statement on allowing the United States' citizens born in Jerusalem to list Israel as their place of birth in their passports and other documents as a violation of international law, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Palestine's presidential spokesman, said.
Earlier in the day, Pompeo said that the US State Department would allow Jerusalem-born citizens to request either Israel or Jerusalem as their place of birth on consular documents.
"East Jerusalem is an occupied Palestinian land, and Pompeo's statement violates international law," Rudeineh told the Palestinian WAFA news agency.
In December of 2017, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which meant that the US formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital. Trump's decision was condemned by Palestine and many Arab countries.
The Palestinian Authority claims East Jerusalem as its capital and agrees to negotiations regarding the status of West Jerusalem, while Israel considers a united Jerusalem as its de jure capital.
