RAMALLAH, April 27 (JMCC) - Palestinian Prime Minister
Salam Fayyad said Monday that the Palestinian government is committed to building Palestinian institutions in all of the occupied
West Bank, including
Jerusalem.
The authority is determined to redouble its efforts to complete building the institutions and infrastructure of the state of Palestine, said Fayyad. Including areas that are in Area C, the Jordan valley and areas behind the
Wall -- at the forefront of all of these is East Jerusalem.
Yes, East Jerusalem falls under our responsibility, authority and institutions, reiterated the prime minister. He was speaking Monday at a conference on Jerusalem at al-Quds university.
The jurisdiction of the
Palestinian Authority government led by Fayyad has been largely restricted to Area A, regions of the West Bank designated by peace agreements as falling under Palestinian security and civil control.
Israel maintains full control of Area C, which makes up 60 percent of the occupied West Bank. Palestinians require Israeli permission to build or develop these regions, and recently concern has been raised that over the last decade during which peace agreements have stayed largely frozen, these areas have been neglected.
East Jerusalem, while part of the area occupied by Israel in 1967, is considered Area C of the West Bank. Palestinians seek control over East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
The Palestinian government led by Fayyad has committed funding and support for developing institutions in Area C for the first time since the inception of the Palestinian Authority in 1994. Its program commits to building statehood institutions by the year 2011.