Haneyya: Relocating U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem “breaks red lines”

Hamas Chief, Ismail Haneyya, said Tuesday that any decision by the Trump administration to recognize the city as Israel’s capital would be igniting the spark of rage against the Israeli occupation.

In a memo sent to Arab leaders, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and the League of Arab States, among other international bodies, Haneyya said the Palestinians will never let such a conspiracy to see the day and will do whatever it takes to defend their land and holy sites.

“As time has passed by, the U.S. administration has always sided with the Israeli occupation and backed its racist and war agenda against the Palestinian people,” wrote Haneyya, dubbing the move a flagrant contravention of international laws and a malevolent provocation of Muslims’ sensitivity.

“The American administration’s recognition of occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving its embassy to Jerusalem cross every red line,” the head of the Palestinian resistance movement said in the letter.

“Moving the American embassy to Occupied Jerusalem is a dangerous escalation and provides a cover for the extremist government (of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) to carry out its plan to Judaize Occupied Jerusalem,” the letter read.

Haneyya called on the Arab and Muslim nations across the globe to take an urgent response over the “conspiracy” and to work on pressurizing the U.S. to backtrack on such a “criminal move.”

Reports have recently emerged that President Donald Trump will publically recognize Occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and instruct the State Department to begin the multi-year process of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city. Trump is expected deliver remarks Wednesday outlining his decision on a potential move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel, a decision that is believed to inflame tensions across the occupied Palestinian territories and the Middle East.

Trump has also informed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas he intends to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Occupied Jerusalem. No timetable was, however, given.

Palestinian factions have called for mass protests against such a move.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, home to the third holiest site in Islam—Al-Aqsa Mosque—more than 50 years ago and considers the entire city as the capital of its self-proclaimed state.