World Leaders Condemn Trump Jerusalem Move, Warn of Violence

Donald Trump's decision Wednesday to recognise occupied Jerusalem as Israel's capital has drawn sharp criticism, with the significant exception of Israel.

Here are key reactions from around the world:

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the US could no longer play the role of peace broker after Trump's decision.

"These deplorable and unacceptable measures deliberately undermine all peace efforts," Abbas said in a speech.

The secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation said Trump had destroyed any hopes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"He destroyed the two-state solution," Saeb Erekat, who long served as the Palestinians' top negotiator, told journalists.

Hamas said Trump's decision would "open the gates of hell" on US interests in the region.

"This decision will open the gates of hell on US interests in the region," Ismail Radwan, an official with the Palestinian Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, told journalists.

Saudi Arabia slammed Trump's move as "unjustified and irresponsible" and said the decision goes against the "historical and permanent rights of the Palestinian people".

"The Kingdom has already warned of the serious consequences of such an unjustified and irresponsible move," said a Saudi royal court statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres implicitly criticised Trump's announcement, warning that occupied Jerusalem's status must be resolved through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

"From day one as secretary general of the United Nations, I have consistently spoken out against any unilateral measures that would jeopardise the prospect of peace for Israelis and Palestinians," Guterres said.

The office of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad dismissed Trump's move, saying in a statement it would not dim the "Palestinian cause".

"The future of Jerusalem is not set by a state or a president, but by its history, will, and the determination of those loyal to the Palestinian cause which will stay alive in the conscience of the Arab homeland until the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," it said.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri vowed his country's "highest degrees of solidarity with the Palestinian people and its right to establish an independent state with occupied Jerusalem as its capital".

"The American decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the embassy there is a step that is rejected by the Arab world and risks spilling dangers over into the region," he said.

Jordan condemned Trump's recognition of occupied Jerusalem as amounting to a violation of international law and the UN charter.

"The decision of the American president to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the transfer of the US embassy to this city constitutes a violation of decisions of international law and the United Nations charter," said government spokesman Mohammed Momani.

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