PLO describes as hypocritical US plan to close its Washington office

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) condemned on Monday the US administration's plan to shut down its Washington office describing it as hypocritical and biased.

Reports said US National Security Advisor John Bolton is expected to announce the decision in the coming hours. He is also expected to threaten the International Criminal Court (ICC) of severe action if it attempts to consider any war crime charges against Israel raised by the Palestinians.

Ahmed Tamimi, member of the PLO Executive Committee and head of its Human Rights and Civil Society Department, said the decision was “hypocritical and blatantly biased toward the extremist right wing Israeli government.”

Tamimi said this decision is another one of anti-Palestinian policies by US President Donald Trump’s administration which began with the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the decision to stop all funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the recent cancellation of funding of Palestinian hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem.

He stressed that the US decision will not dissuade the Palestinian leadership from its efforts to take Israel to the ICC to punish it for its crimes against the Palestinian people and its violation of international humanitarian law and  resolutions.

Tamimi concluded his statement by stressing that regardless of the actions of the Trump administration targeting the Palestinians and their rights, the Palestinian leadership will not stop efforts to bring down the deal of the century.