- Title: Honduran president inaugurates "diplomatic office" in Jerusalem
- Date: 1st September 2019
- Summary: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS) PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION (PLO) OFFICIAL, HANAN ASHRAWI (SOUNDBITE) (English) PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION (PLO) OFFICIAL, HANAN ASHRAWI, SAYING: "It looks like whenever an autocratic regime faces a question of legitimacy or an internal crisis, they try to solve it at the expense of the Palestinian people by appealing to the Americas through Israel actually and by acting outside the law. It's very clear that these rogue states are actually trying to pay a bill, trying to gain support from the Americans through Israel, and are therefore acting in a way that would undermine the chances of peace and that will destroy their own credibility in the international arena." ASHRAWI WALKING AWAY
- Embargoed: 15th September 2019 17:44
- Keywords: Honduras Israel diplomatic office Jerusalem embassy U.S embassy Palestinians
- Location: JERUSALEM / RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- City: JERUSALEM / RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- Country: Jerusalem
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002AUTSY13
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez inaugurated a "diplomatic office" in Jerusalem on Sunday (September 1) alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The office represents an extension of Honduras's embassy in the country, the Honduran government said.
Hernandez said that a trade office would be opened in Jerusalem. It was not immediately clear how the diplomatic office would be related to a trade office, a step that has been condemned by Palestinians.
The Honduran leader has in recent months signalled that his government is mulling moving the Honduran embassy to Jerusalem.
His comments follow the formal recognition by U.S. President Donald Trump of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Last May, Trump moved the U.S. embassy to the disputed city.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest disputes between Israel and the Palestinians and Palestinian leaders accused Trump of sowing instability by overturning decades of U.S. policy.
Palestinians, with broad international backing, seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they want to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
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