Palestine protests as Czech Republic opens embassy in Jerusalem
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The Czech Republic has opened a diplomatic office in Jerusalem following the controversial steps of former US President Donald Trump of moving the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.
The embassy in Tel Aviv opened its branch in Jerusalem on Thursday in a ceremony attended by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabi Ashkenazi.
Israel had announced its 5,000 doses of corona vaccine give away to Czech the previous day.
Meanwhile, Palestinian leaders opposed the step calling on Czech Republic's action as a shameless invasion upon their country and to reverse the decision. The Arab League also dissented the move, standing in solidarity with Palestinian protest.
On Sunday, Turkey condemned the action in a statement saying that the country was concerned that the Czech Republic opened a diplomatic office in Jerusalem whose international status is guaranteed by UN resolutions.
Earlier, most European Union member states had refused to move their embassies to Jerusalem as the peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians still stands unresolved.
However, the Czech Republic clarified that the set-up office in Jerusalem was not an embassy but a diplomatic office to strengthen diplomatic relations with Israel.
The clash between the states have been going in and around with major international bodies urging for a two-state solution. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state while Israel had long demanded that Jerusalem be owned by Israel and that East Jerusalem be made their capital, since 1967.