The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said this Tuesday that it “strongly condemns” the President Javier Milei’s plans to move the Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem from Argentina in Israel
The transfer would mean “a violation of the rights of our Palestinian people to their landy a violation of the norms of international lawconsidering Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian land,” Hamas said.
The Hamas group has been fighting a war with Israel since October in Gaza, a territory it has ruled since 2007. In retaliation for its attack, Israel began bombing the Gaza Strip on October 7, and its air and ground attacks left more than 27,000 dead.
Israel says 132 hostages are still being held in Gaza by the Islamic group, at least 27 of whom are believed to have died.
Milei cried at the Wailing Wall and announced that he will move the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem
President Milei made the announcement of the transfer as he got off the plane at Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv. “Obviously it is my plan to move the embassy to West Jerusalem,” said the president when received by the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz.
In what is his second trip abroad since taking office in December, Milei said he wants to express your “support for the people of Israel” y “defend the legitimate defense” of the Hebrew State compared to “the terrorists” of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Argentina could be one of the few countries that moves its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
Currently, the Argentine embassy is located in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, where the vast majority of diplomatic representations are located. If Milei carries out her promise, Argentina would become one of the few countries that has its main diplomatic mission in Jerusalem.
In addition, Milei would follow in the footsteps of the former president Donald Trump, who in 2018 ordered the transfer of the United States embassy after recognizing the city of Jerusalem, which has been under Israeli authority since then, but the Palestinians claim the eastern part as the capital of their future State.
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The United Nations conceived a special international status for Jerusalem in 1947 given its importance to Jews, Christians and Muslims, but the city was divided after the war that followed Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948.
Israel seized East Jerusalem from Jordan during the Six Day War June 1967 and later annexed it, and considers the entire city as the indivisible capital of the State.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office welcomed the announcement, a diplomatic endorsement of Israel’s claim to Jerusalem as its indivisible capital.
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