Saeb Erekat
Saeb ErekatReuters

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary General Saeb Erekat on Wednesday claimed that the US recognition of Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights paves the way for the "annexation of the West Bank."

Speaking after meeting with diplomats of several European countries in the city of Ramallah and quoted by the Xinhua news agency, Erekat said that the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership is seeking international multilateral support in response to the US move.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump "have their strategy -- a Palestinian Authority without authority," said Erekat.

He added that "with Jerusalem being Israel's capital, Golan under their sovereignty, then the third step will be the West Bank under Israel's sovereignty and declare the recognition of the state of Gaza."

On Monday, Trump signed a proclamation recognizing Israeli sovereignty of the Golan Heights, an area liberated by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War.

Trump's Golan decision sparked condemnation from the Arab world, including from Syria, which claims that the entire Golan to be its territory and which accused Trump of “blatantly attacking” its sovereignty with the decision.

Erekat himself blasted Trump’s move last week, claiming the move would result in regional “destabilization and bloodshed”.

“Yesterday president Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Today for regional stability he wants to make sure that the occupied Syrian Golan Heights be under Israel’s sovereignty. What shall tomorrow bring? Certain destabilization and bloodshed in our region,” he wrote on Twitter.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Erekat warned that annexing Judea and Samaria means destroying and terminating the PA.

In response to the US move, the PA leadership is "working toward a comprehensive package that will be sponsored, not by the Palestinians and the Arabs, but by the international community," he added, according to Xinhua.