JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Kosovo opened its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem on Sunday, joining the United States and Guatemala as the only countries with embassies in a city whose status is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Muslim-majority Kosovo promised to locate its embassy in Jerusalem when it established diplomatic ties with Israel last year under US sponsorship. Kosovo’s Foreign Ministry said on Twitter that with the embassy’s opening, “the pledge given in the Oval Office today is finally fulfilled”. Wasel Abu Youssef, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the opening of Kosovo’s embassy in Jerusalem contradicted UN resolutions and aimed to “weaken the Palestinian cause”. Israel annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 conflict in a move that has not won international recognition.

Source: Egypt Independent March 14, 2021 15:22 UTC