Top Palestinian officials condemned US President Donald Trump's
recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, saying the decision would bolster extremists' calls for holy wars and delegitimize the United States as an arbiter in the peace process.
"These procedures do also help in the extremist organizations to wage a religious war that would harm the entire region, which is going through critical moments and would lead us into wars that will never end, which we have warned about and always urged to fight against," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a televised address following the US announcement.
Trump's move means the US can no longer play a role in the peace process, said Palestinian Liberation Organization Secretary-General Saeb Erekat.
"President Trump just destroyed any possibility of a two-state (solution)," Erekat, who is also the Palestinian chief negotiator, said in a statement.
"President Trump tonight made the biggest mistake of his life," Erekat told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "Instead of encouraging the parties to sit together, the parties to put all core issues including Jerusalem on the table and negotiate in good faith, he dictates."
Israeli officials have worked to demolish a two-state solution, he said.
Hamas, France and UN Secretary-General António Guterres joined the chorus of criticism targeting Trump following his Wednesday announcement that the US would soon move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
While Trump and his Israeli allies have said the city is key to regional stability, detractors -- who include important US allies such as Jordan's King Abdullah II -- say the move promises not only to destabilize the region, but scuttle any hopes of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
Guterres said the move jeopardizes the prospect of peace. Jerusalem's status should be resolved only via negotiations between Israel and Palestinians, he said.
"In this moment of great anxiety, I want to make it clear: There is no alternative to the two-state solution. There is no Plan B," he said. "It is only by realizing the vision of two states living side-by-side in peace, security and mutual recognition, with Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Palestine, and all final status issues resolved permanently through negotiations, that the legitimate aspirations of both peoples will be achieved."
Speaking in Algiers, French President Emmanuel Macron called Trump's decision "regrettable" and said the new American policy "contravenes international law."
That stance was echoed by Amnesty International Middle East advocacy director Raed Jarrar, who released a statement calling the move "reckless and provocative."
"There is international consensus, including UN Security Council resolutions, on the illegality of Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem. With this move, the United States is violating its own international legal obligations not to recognize or assist an illegal situation and to ensure respect for the Geneva Conventions," Jarrar said. "No country in the world recognizes Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem, making the decision to confer US recognition deeply troubling."
Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, the governing authority in Gaza, also decried the move, tweeting, "Trump's decision will not succeed in changing the reality of Jerusalem being Islamic Arab land. This decision is foolish and time will tell that the biggest losers are Trump and (Israeli President Benjamin) Netanyahu."
Netanyahu called on other nations to follow Trump's lead.
Saying "Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years," Netanyahu praised Trump and called the move an "important step towards peace, for there is no peace that doesn't include Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel."
