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PA says they won’t accept any change on Jerusalem border

The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Saturday rejected a call by a US official for the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem to remain under Israeli control.

Agencies and A News WORLD
Published December 16,2017
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The Palestinian Authority (PA) said Saturday it will not accept any change on the 1967 border of East Jerusalem.

A U.S. official said Friday that Washington expects that the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City will be part of Israel.

This position "confirms once again that the current U.S. administration has become completely outside the peace process," PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said in a statement cited by the official Wafa news agency.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, triggering protests in the Palestinian territories and several Arab and Muslim countries.

This U.S. policy "runs against international legitimacy and consolidates the occupation," Abu Rudeina said.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

The US official said the wall would stay under Israeli control even after an eventual peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians

"We cannot envision any situation under which the Western Wall would not be part of Israel," a senior Trump administration official told reporters ahead of a trip to the region by Vice President Mike Pence.

The wall, the remains of the western wall of the Second Temple, is a sacred site to many Jews and the area is part of the larger zone that is the focal point of the religious tensions in Jerusalem known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Noble Sanctuary to Muslims.

Pence is to travel to Egypt, Israel and Germany beginning on Tuesday.