WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says holy city of al-Quds is a gate to either peace or war, saying it is up to the United States to decide which path to choose.
Addressing al-Azhar International Conference on al-Quds in Cairo on Wednesday, Abbas denounced U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent decision to recognize the city as the Zionist regime’s "capital” as "sinful.”
Washington, he noted, disqualified itself as a broker in the long-stalled negotiations between the Zionist regime and Palestinian aimed at resolving the decades-long conflict between the two sides.
Abbas said the U.S. has defied international law and resolutions to declare a city it deems itself occupied as the "capital” of the occupying regime.
He also stressed that the Palestinians would file a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court and "will continue to peacefully pursue our demands until we win back our rights.”
Meanwhile, Syria’s top parliamentarian says al-Quds belongs to the Islamic world, stressing that Muslims will exercise their right to stand against the Zionist regime’s occupation of the ancient city.
The Speaker of People's Council of Syria Hammouda Youssef Sabbagh made the remarks in an address to the 13th Session of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Conference in Tehran on Wednesday.
Muslims will make endeavors to redeem al-Quds as it is their right to do so, he said, adding that "the cancerous tumor of Israel” should be removed.
The top Syrian lawmaker also said terrorists have joined forces against Syria and Palestine due to their support for the anti-Zionist resistance front, adding, however, that their attempts will fail.
Since 1977, the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council have approved 750 and 86 resolutions, respectively, over Palestine, but none of the measures have been implemented, Abbas pointed out.
The United Nations General Assembly voted on December 21, 2017 by a resounding majority to reject Trump’s al-Quds move.
Israel lays claim to the whole Jerusalem al-Quds, but the international community views the ancient city’s eastern sector as occupied land and Palestinians consider it as the capital of their future state.

A view of the al-Aqsa Mosque in East al-Quds