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The U.S. on Monday announced the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Washington diplomatic mission as the Donald Trump administration prepares to roll out its Middle East peace plan.
The State Department announced the decision, saying "the PLO office in Washington will close at this point." The office had served as Palestine's de facto embassy in Washington.
The department said "the PLO has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel," and pointed to Palestinian calls for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel as reasons for its decision.
"We have permitted the PLO office to conduct operations that support the objective of achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between Israelis and the Palestinians since the expiration of a previous waiver in November 2017," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.
Palestinian hospital officials on Monday decried a U.S. decision to cut funding for hospitals in the occupied East Jerusalem, warning the move will have “catastrophic” consequences on the health sector.The decision will have “a major negative impact on the clash flows to these hospitals and will lead to delays in the provision of vital medical services,” Basem Abu-Lebda, head of Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem, told a press conference held at Augusta Victoria hospital in the city.“In a nutshell, this decision will negatively impact the lives of five million Palestinians,” he said.The U.S. administration has decided to cut nearly $25 million in aid to hospitals in Israel-occupied city that mainly serve Palestinian patients.US to close PLO’s Washington office: Saeb ErekatThe cut could cause harm to at least five hospitals in East Jerusalem, including Augusta Victoria hospital and the St. John Eye Hospital, which is the main provider of eye treatments for Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.Abu-Lebda appealed to the Palestinian Authority, the U.S. Congress and the international community to take responsibility and spare no efforts to deal with the consequences caused by the U.S. aid cut.Notably East Jerusalem hospitals provide medical services to Palestinians not only in East Jerusalem but also those in the West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip.Last week, Washington ended all of its funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA.Palestinians say undeterred by US move to 'protect Israeli crimes'The U.S. was -- by far -- UNRWA's largest contributor, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly one quarter of the agency's overall budget. Palestinians have rejected any U.S. mediation since U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.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.
US aid cut to East Jerusalem hospitals ‘catastrophic'
"However, the PLO has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel. To the contrary, PLO leadership has condemned a U.S. peace plan they have not yet seen and refused to engage with the U.S. government with respect to peace efforts and otherwise," she added.
Another State Department spokeswoman later said the mission was ordered to vacate its office no later than Oct. 10.
Mark Perry, a former unofficial advisor to late PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, ripped Washington's announcement, saying "the U.S. has always been Israel's lawyer."
"Ironically, the announcement is actually good news -- as it ends the pretense that the U.S. actually cares about peace in the Middle East," Perry told Anadolu Agency.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said Monday that the U.S. administration was planning to close the PLO's office -- which doubles as the Palestinian embassy -- in Washington.“We have been officially informed that the U.S. administration plans to close our embassy in Washington as a means of punishing us for continuing to work with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli war crimes,” Erekat said in a statement carried by Palestine’s WAFA news agency.Erekat described the move as “an escalation that will have serious political consequences by sabotaging the entire international system in order to protect the Israeli occupation and its crimes”.“This is another blow by the [U.S. President Donald] Trump administration against peace and justice,” he said.The Trump administration, Erekat added, “cannot extort the will of the Palestinian people who will continue to pursue their rights through all legal and political channels, especially at the ICC”.He went on to urge ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to open “an urgent criminal investigation into the crimes of the Israeli occupation”.The Palestinian leadership, Ereket said, “will take measures to help Palestinians living in the U.S. and guarantee their access to consular services” in light of U.S. plans to close the PLO’s office -- plans the Wall Street Journal appeared to confirm Monday.Last November, the Trump administration threatened to close the PLO’s Washington office after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas -- in a speech before the UN General Assembly -- called for investigations into alleged crimes by Israel.The U.S. State Department later announced, however, that it would allow the organization's offices to remain open for an additional 90 days.
US to close PLO’s Washington office: Saeb Erekat
"The U.S. is now perfectly aligned with the Israeli national project. Israel does not now, and never has, believed in the peace process or sought reconciliation with the Palestinians," he said. "Rather, its goal is the destruction of the Palestinian national project. What changed today is that the U.S. has now joined that effort."
National Security Advisor John Bolton later Monday said Washington will act if the ICC decides to prosecute Israel, the U.S. or any of its other allies.
Those actions include potential sanctions of ICC funds residing in the U.S., as well as a ban on ICC prosecutors and judges from entering the U.S.
"We will take note if any countries cooperate with ICC investigations of the United States and its allies, and we will remember that cooperation when setting U.S. foreign assistance, military assistance, and intelligence sharing levels," Bolton said.
“We will let the ICC die on its own, after all, for all intents and purposes the ICC is already dead to us,” he added.
The comments comes as the Trump administration prepares to roll out its plan to achieve a peace between Palestine and Israel, a deal that Trump has framed as the "deal of the century."
Palestinian officials continue to deny any role for the U.S. in peace talks with Israel after Trump unilaterally declared Jerusalem to be Israel's capital last year, upending long-held underpinnings of peace talks which had maintained the issue was to be determined as part of final status negotiations.
The decision provoked worldwide condemnation.
Husam Zomlot, the PLO's U.S. ambassador, strongly condemned the decision to shutter the organization's offices as a "reckless act" that ultimately confirms that the U.S. "is blindly executing Israel’s 'wish list,' which starts with shutting down Palestinian diplomatic representation in the US."
Zomlot insisted the U.S. action would not deter Palestine in its mission "to hold Israel accountable by referring it to the International Criminal Court," or force Ramallah to return to a U.S.-brokered negotiations.
"We stand firm in our decision not to cooperate in this ongoing campaign to liquidate our rights and cause. Our rights are not for sale and we will block any attempts at bullying and blackmailing us to forgo our legitimate and internationally endorsed rights," he said in a statement.
"While today is a dark day for peace in the Middle East, for multilateralism, and the integrity of the international political and legal system, we will continue our struggle to pursue all possible legal and political means to achieve peace, independence, and our internationally enshrined rights," he added.
Prior to the formal announcement of the mission's closure, Palestinian officials described the move as “an escalation that will have serious political consequences by sabotaging the entire international system in order to protect the Israeli occupation and its crimes.”
“This is another blow by the Trump administration against peace and justice," said PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat.
The decision to close the Palestinian mission is the latest effort to ramp up pressure on Ramallah. The U.S. has already halted all funding to the UN's Palestine refugee agency and cut more than $200 million in aid to the Palestinians.