Israel minister enraged by Prince William's visit to occupied Jerusalem

Israel minister enraged by Prince William's visit to occupied Jerusalem
An Israeli minister has been enraged by British royal Prince William's visit to the occupied city of Jerusalem.
2 min read
18 June, 2018
Palestinians claim the eastern part of Jerusalem as the capital of their future state [Getty]

An Israeli minister has been enraged by British royal Prince William's visit to the occupied city of Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Jerusalem Affairs Minister Zeev Elkin on Monday slammed the prince for listing Jerusalem's old city of as part of the occupied Palestinian Territories on his travel itinerary.

"It is regrettable that in Britain they chose to politicise the royal visit," Elkin said, according to Israeli news website Ynet.

"United Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel for 3,000 years and no distortion in the preparatory papers for the tour are going to change that reality," he added.

The minister was commenting on a Kensington Palace press release which listed east Jerusalem as part of the occupied Palestinian lands.

"In the Occupied Palestinian Territories [Prince William] will begin with a short briefing on the history and geography of Jerusalem's Old City," the itinerary says.

Palestinians claim the eastern part of Jerusalem, which was illegally annexed by Israel in 1967, as the capital of their future state.

The Jewish state considers the entire city its own, "indivisible" capital.

In December, Trump recognised Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and that he was moving his country's embassy there from Tel Aviv in a move that infuriated Palestinians.

His move broke with decades of international consensus that Jerusalem's status must be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians, and drew near global condemnation.

The US embassy was opened on 14 May, one day before the Palestinians commemorate their mass displacement in the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel.

On the same day, Israeli troops killed at least 62 Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip.

Since major border protests broke out at the end of March, at least 145 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire in the same time span, while no Israelis have been killed.

Palestinians are calling to return to the homes their families were forced from in 1948 during the war surrounding the creation of Israel and for an end to the decade-long crippling blockade of the Palestinian enclave.