RAMALLAH

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned the Czech ambassador over its stated intention to open a diplomatic office in occupied Jerusalem.

"Based on the instructions of President Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, the Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry Amal Jadou summoned the Czech Ambassador to Palestine, Petr Stary," the ministry said.

The ministry added that the move came for "clarification of the announcement of the Czech Foreign Ministry about opening an office of the embassy ​​in Tel Aviv in occupied Jerusalem."

Jadou expressed her country's "condemnation of the move, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law."

She stressed the need to cancel the move.

Israeli media reported Wednesday that the Czech Republic intends to open an embassy in Jerusalem.

In internationally condemned moves, since 2018 both the US and Guatemala have officially relocated their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Mideast conflict, with Palestinians insisting that East Jerusalem – illegally occupied by Israel since 1967 – should serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara