Beirut mulls opening Palestine embassy in Jerusalem

Monitoring Desk

BEIRUT: The Lebanese government drew up a committee on Thursday to study proposals for opening an embassy in Jerusalem and recognizing the city as the Palestinian capital.

The move comes one day after the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at a summit convened in Istanbul, recognized East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. “The government has decided to form a committee, headed up by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, to study proposals by Foreign Minister Jubran Bassil to open a Lebanese embassy in Jerusalem and acknowledge the city as the capital of Palestine,” Information Minister Melhem Riashi announced following a Thursday cabinet meeting.

Riashi went on to say that the Lebanese government considered U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision last week to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “null and void”.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem — now occupied by Israel — might eventually serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

In April, Russia recognized West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, voicing hope that the city’s eastern half might eventually serve as the capital of an independent state of Palestine.

Meanwhile, The border between Syria and Lebanon was officially reopened Thursday after five years of closure.

A reopening ceremony was held in the town of Al-Qaa on the Lebanese side of the border. According to Lebanon’s National News Agency, the ceremony was attended by Abbas Ibrahim, Lebanon’s director of public security, and Syrian Interior Minister Mohamed al-Shaar.

The Jousi crossing — which links Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel province to the Syrian province of Hom — will be officially opened to cross-border traffic on Friday.

“Security coordination is ongoing between the two countries,” Ibrahim said during Thursday’s ceremony.

In a subsequent statement, al-Shaar, for his part, stressed his country’s support for “anything that promotes normal relations… between Lebanon and Syria”. “There are no lo-nger any obstacles preventing people from returning to Syria [from Lebanon],” he said.