Bethlehem/PNN/

Palestinians have expressed outrage over reports that British Prime Minister Liz Truss is considering relocating the UK embassy in Tel Aviv to the occupied holy city of Jerusalem in a controversial decision that would follow in former US president Donald Trump’s footsteps.

Some Palestinians described the move as “a new Balfour Declaration” and said it proves Britain’s bias in favor of the Israeli regime.

The Balfour Declaration came in the form of a letter from Britain’s then-foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, addressed to Lionel Walter Rothschild, a figurehead of the British Jewish community. It was published on November 2, 1917.

The declaration was made during World War I (1914-1918) and was included in the terms of the British Mandate for Palestine after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.

It is widely seen as the precursor to the 1948 Palestinian Nakba, when Zionist armed paramilitary groups, who were trained and created to fight side by side with the British in World War II, forcibly expelled more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland.

An unnamed Palestinian Authority official said the Ramallah-based and Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over West Bank areas has not received an official statement from the British government regarding the relocation of the embassy.

The official warned that such “dangerous” moves would have a negative impact on the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The official pointed out that the reports about relocating the British embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem emerged shortly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Truss met in New York, where they are attending the 77th United Nations General Assembly session.

Palestine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom decried today remarks recently made by British Prime Minister Liz Truss in which she declared her country’s possible relocation of its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in the near future.

"It is extremely unfortunate that Prime Minister Liz Truss uses her first appearance at the UN to commit to potentially breaking international law by promising a “review” of the location of the British embassy to Israel," Zomlot said in a tweet.

He continued, "Any embassy move would be a blatant violation of international law and the UK's historic responsibilities. It undermines the two-state solution and enflames an already volatile situation in Jerusalem, the rest of the occupied territories and among communities in the UK and worldwide."

"Such promise is immoral, illegal and irresponsible!," he stressed.

Mustafa Barghouti, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative Party, said the British prime minister belongs to the “pro-Zionist” conservatives and is known for volte-face on her stances.

Barghouti stated that Truss and her friends were trying to win the support of the Jewish community in Britain.

“I wasn’t surprised because the positions of this British government are against the interests of Palestinian people,” Barghouti said in an interview with a local Palestinian radio station.

“But I don’t think they will succeed in moving the embassy because of the fierce opposition by the friends of Palestinians in Britain,” he noted.