Palestinian envoy to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal has warned that any attempt by the United States to shift its embassy to Jerusalem will seriously complicate the situation in the region and may result in a “holy war”.
"We want the new US administration to demonstrate sufficient rationality and reject the idea of the embassy’s relocation. Otherwise, the problems, threatening with disastrous consequences, will emerge,” Abdel Hafiz Nofal told Sputnik News.
“The transfer may "open the gates of Hell" and will result in a "holy war," he added.
In September 2016, Donald Trump had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that if elected US President, his administration would recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel and move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
On January 19, Israeli ambassador to Russia Gary Koren had said that Israel would be pleased if the new US administration relocated the US embassy in the country to Jerusalem.
Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip.
They are also demanding that Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories it took after the Six-Day War in 1967.
