DUBAI: The Arab Parliament condemned Czech Republic’s opening of an embassy in Jerusalem, saying the decision is against the international law and violates the rights of Palestinians, state news agency Petra reported.

Speaker of the Parliament Adel Assomi called on the “government and parliament of the Czech Republic to not follow through with this illegal action that runs counter to the international legitimacy.”

Jordan’s foreign ministry has also expressed its condemnation to Czech Republic’s decision, describing it as a flagrant violation of international law.

“Any measures or decisions aimed at changing the holy city’s legal status are null, illegal and have no legal effect,” the ministry’s spokesperson Dhaifallah Ali Al-Fayez said.

Prague opened a Jerusalem branch of its Israel embassy, which is located in Tel Aviv, on Thursday. Its inauguration, attended by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, was two weeks after Israel sent several thousand COVID-19 vaccine doses to the Czech Republic.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said it considered Prague’s move “a blatant attack on the Palestinian people and their rights, a flagrant violation of international law,” and said it would harm peace prospects.

In Cairo, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in a statement: “The legal status of Jerusalem will be affected by the decision of one country or another to open representative offices. East Jerusalem is an occupied land under the International law.”

Jerusalem’s status is one of the thorniest issues in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel annexed the eastern part of the city in a move not recognised internationally and regards all of Jerusalem as its capital.