In Wednesday’s concluding session at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s Istanbul summit, leaders of Muslim countries declared East Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Palestine. Leaders called the US decision to proclaim Jerusalem as the capital of Israel “irresponsible, null and void,” and said it serves “in the interest of extremism and terrorism.”“We declare our recognition of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, and we call on states to recognize the State of Palestine and occupied East Jerusalem as its capital,” read the Muslim leaders’ final statement of the summit. “Trump’s decision is a deliberate undermining of all peace efforts, is in the interest of extremism and terrorism, and threatens international peace and security,” they added. Shoukry also maintained the view that a comprehensive and final settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict can only be achieved through a two-state solution, with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. Palestinian political factions in Gaza called for huge demonstrations on Friday to reject Trump’s decision.

Source: Egypt Independent December 14, 2017 09:39 UTC