JERUSALEM, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Israel extended on Thursday a ban on activities by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the Israel-annexed East Jerusalem, officials said.
Under an order signed by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, certain PA institutions will remain closed, including the Orient House, a building in East Jerusalem that served as the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization until 1990s.
The Palestinian Prisoner's Club, the East Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce, the Supreme Council for the Arab Tourism Industry, the Center for Palestinian Studies, and the Office for Social and Statistical Studies will also be kept closed, he said.
Erdan said the ban is part of Israel's "acclaimed sovereignty" in East Jerusalem, adding the extension of the closure of these Palestinian institutions is a message to the PA and the residents of East Jerusalem that Israel does not intend to relinquish in any way its sovereignty over East Jerusalem.
"The PA has recently been making great efforts to strengthen its presence in East Jerusalem in sophisticated ways," Erdan said. "I will prevent any Palestinian attempt to establish a foothold in the eastern part of the city."
East Jerusalem was seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war along with the rest of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel annexed it shortly later in a move denounced by the international community.
In late 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, revising a decade-long White House policy and triggering international condemnations. Last May, the United States relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in a move that sparked tensions and violence in the West Bank and Gaza.
