White House Would Like a Consulate in East Jerusalem, Adviser Says

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan responds to a question from the news media during the White House daily briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, US 11 July 2022. (EPA)
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan responds to a question from the news media during the White House daily briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, US 11 July 2022. (EPA)
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White House Would Like a Consulate in East Jerusalem, Adviser Says

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan responds to a question from the news media during the White House daily briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, US 11 July 2022. (EPA)
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan responds to a question from the news media during the White House daily briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, US 11 July 2022. (EPA)

The White House would like to see a US consulate for the Palestinians open in east Jerusalem, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday as President Joe Biden made his way to the region.

"Our position is that we would like a consulate in East Jerusalem. Obviously, that requires engagement with the Israeli government. It requires engagement with the Palestinian leadership as well. And we will continue that engagement on this trip," Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force 1.

Sullivan also said the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spoken with the family of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

"He has invited the family to the United States to be able to sit down and engage with them directly," Sullivan said.



Olmert: ‘Humanitarian City’ in Rafah Would Be Concentration Camp for Palestinians

Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
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Olmert: ‘Humanitarian City’ in Rafah Would Be Concentration Camp for Palestinians

Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)
Former Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert looks on during an interview with AFP (Agence France-Presse) in Paris on June 9, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

Israel’s former prime minister Ehud Olmert said that the “humanitarian city” that Israel’s defense minister has proposed building on the ruins of Rafah would be a concentration camp, and forcing Palestinians inside would be ethnic cleansing, the Guardian reported on Sunday.

Israel was already committing war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, Olmert told the daily, and construction of the camp would mark an escalation.

Israeli Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, has ordered the military to start drawing up operational plans for construction of the “humanitarian city” on the ruins of southern Gaza, to house initially 600,000 people and eventually the entire Palestinian population, stated the Guardian.

“It is a concentration camp. I am sorry,” Olmert told he daily, when asked about the plans laid out by Katz last week. Once inside, Palestinians would not be allowed to leave, except to go to other countries, Katz said.

The “humanitarian city” project is backed by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel’s refusal to withdraw from the area Katz envisages for the camp is a sticking point in the faltering negotiations for a ceasefire deal, Israeli media have reported.