RAMALLAH, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Foreign Affairs Ministry on Tuesday slammed Israel for organizing a Jerusalem tour for diplomats of 40 UN member states.
The tour includes Jerusalem and Maale Adumim settlement in east of the city, among other locations, Israeli media reports said.
The Palestinian ministry said in a statement that the tour is considered a violation of international legitimacy.
It added that the diplomats invited to the tour, as well as their countries, "know that East Jerusalem and its old city is Palestinian territory and are aware that settlements are illegal and unlawful."
The ministry said it believes the tour aims to attract UN members states to vote for Israel's membership at the UN Security Council, and to convince more states to move their embassies to Jerusalem.
The ministry said it is in contact with the countries whose diplomats took part in the tour to clarify their positions on the "negative consequences of this provocative and illegal participation."
It also called on Arab states for "a necessary awakening and a serious confrontation to halt Israeli attempts to break through the international position towards occupied Jerusalem."
Jerusalem and settlements are considered the thorniest issues in the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. The last round of the U.S.-sponsored negotiations ended in 2014 after nine months of talks without achieving any breakthrough.
On Dec. 6, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and ordered to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to the city.
As a result, Palestinians disqualified the United States from being the sole sponsor of the peace negotiations and called for a multilateral peace mechanism.
On Feb. 20, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas presented a peace initiative in a speech before the UN Security Council, proposing to hold an international peace conference in mid-2018 to jump start the final status talks based on the two-state solution and international resolutions.?
