The Palestinian Authority (PA) will continue its efforts to work with international parties to pressure Israel to allow holding the Palestinian elections in eastern Jerusalem, a senior official said on Thursday.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said in an official statement quoted by Xinhua that "the pressure on Israel will go on until it accepts the participation of our people in Jerusalem in the elections."
"President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership insist that there will be no elections without holding it in East Jerusalem no matter what the pressure will be like on the Palestinian side," said Abu Rudeineh.
He slammed Hamas’ call on Abbas to issue a presidential decree that sets up a date for holding the elections before getting Israel's approval to let Palestinians in eastern Jerusalem to participate in the elections.
Abbas recently renewed a pledge to hold fresh parliamentary elections in the PA, which have not been held since 2006 when Hamas won an overwhelming majority.
However, Abbas has refrained from calling the election until Israel approves holding them for Arabs residing in eastern Jerusalem as well.
On Tuesday, the PA chairman stressed that issuing a presidential decree for holding elections is dependent on whether they could be held also in eastern Jerusalem.