The staff concerned have been informed, the foreign ministry confirmed on Saturday. A working group has been set up to plan the next steps. A date has not yet been set and it is estimated that the move will take a few months to realise.
The news was first reported on Friday by the Swiss daily Le Temps that wrote that the Alpine nation was finally caving into pressure from Israel. The Swiss diplomatic liaison office was moved from East Jerusalem to Ramallah in 2001 but the development office remained.
According to the foreign ministry, the location of the development cooperation office, be it in East Jerusalem or Ramallah, has no influence on Switzerland’s position on the Middle East conflict. Switzerland considers East Jerusalem to be occupied territory within the meaning of international humanitarian law. The final status of Jerusalem – especially as the capital of both states – would have to be negotiated between the parties.
The location of the office would also have no impact on Switzerland’s engagement in the framework of its cooperation programme on the Middle East 2021-2024.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Swiss deny Israeli pressure led to relocation of Palestinian office
This content was published on
Announcing the relocation plan on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said all its diplomatic representatives would be moved to new offices in Ramallah. It added that its East Jerusalem office would remain open, but would not have any function other than humanitarian and aid work. The decision, taken by the Swiss foreign minister, Joseph Deiss, comes…
Switzerland cuts funding to Palestinian NGO with suspected violent links
This content was published on
Switzerland has confirmed that it has stopped funding a Palestinian women’s rights NGO, following an investigation showing links to a terrorist figure.
This content was published on
Switzerland, one of the first countries to recognize the state of Israel, is alarmed by the level of violence in Gaza Strip.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.