Abbas and senior PA officials
Abbas and senior PA officialsFlash 90

Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee and the Fatah Central Committee, said on Thursday that the Palestinian Arabs are demanding that the EU pressure Israel to allow elections to take place in eastern Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Arabs rejected a European proposal to allow electronic voting of Arab residents of Jerusalem, he said.

"If Israel refuses," Ahmad warned, "the Palestinians will look at the option of a harsh response, as there is a consensus on holding a general election. It may be decided to turn the Palestinian National Council into the parliament of the State of Palestine."

"We want to say goodbye to the occupation in any way possible, and in a scenario in which the Palestinian Authority collapses, the alternative will be a state. And we will take steps and demand that the United Nations help us through the use of Article 7 of the Charter,” continued Ahmad.

He claimed that the Palestinian Authority updated Israel, but had not asked for its approval, about its intention to hold general elections to parliament and the presidency in Area C and in eastern Jerusalem.

PA chairman Mahmoud 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, the PA chairman has stressed that issuing a decree for holding elections is dependent on whether they could be held also in eastern Jerusalem.

Israel reportedly has decided to ignore and not respond to a letter sent by the PA demanding that residents of eastern Jerusalem be allowed to participate in the planned elections.

Abbas' insistence on holding election in eastern Jerusalem is actually a challenge to US President Donald Trump's declaration at the end of 2017 that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.