By Xinhua
Ramallah : Israel has extended the closure of Palestinian National Authority’s (PNA) institutions in east Jerusalem for another year, a Palestinian newspaper reported on Saturday.
The extension contradicts with previous promises by Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert who told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the institutions will gradually reopen, al-Ayyam daily said.
Jawwad Polis, a lawyer, said the Israeli government’s decision targets the Orient House, which was the former Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) headquarters in the city, and also housed the office of the PNA’s chamber of commerce, a prisoners’ association and an Arabic studies center.
Israel closed the institutions in 2001, one year after the outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.
Polis said that the new Israeli decision also violates Israel’s commitments under the U.S.-backed Road Map peace plan which calls for reopening the PNA’s foundations in east Jerusalem as part of the plan’s first phase.