Palestinians say Trump decision 'gives peace a chance'

RAMALLAH - 1 June 2017: The Palestinian leadership welcomed President Donald Trump's decision on Thursday not to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem for now, saying it "gives peace a chance".

"This is in line with the long-held US policy and the international consensus and it gives peace a chance," Hussam Zomlot, Palestinian ambassador to the United States, said in a statement.

"We are ready to start the consultation process with the US administration. We are serious and genuine about achieving a just and lasting peace."

Trump visited Israel and the Palestinian territories last week, holding talks with both Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The US president says he wants to reach the "ultimate deal" and end the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Foreign countries currently have their embassies in the Israeli commercial capital Tel Aviv since they do not recognise Israel's unilateral claim of control over all of Jerusalem.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967. It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community.

It claims all of Jerusalem as its united capital, while the Palestinians see the eastern sector as the capital of their future state.

The issue is among the most contentious in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.