Brazil opens al-Quds trade centre as step to embassy shift

OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: Brazil opened a trade office in Occupied-al-Quds on Sunday, in a ceremony attended by President Jair Bolsonaro’s son and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking at the ceremony, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a lawmaker, said his father intended to make good on a pledge he made early this year to move Brazil’s embassy in Israel from the city of Tel Aviv to Occupied al-Quds.

"He told me that for sure -- it’s a commitment -- he’s going to move the embassy to Occupied al-Quds, he’s going to do that," the younger Bolsonaro said, in Netanyahu’s presence. President Bolsonaro in January pledged to follow US President Donald Trump’s controversial step and relocate his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv.

The Brazilian head of state visited Israel in March, when he announced his country’s intention to open a trade office in the disputed city. Israel claims all of Occupied-al-Quds as its capital, while Palestinians view east Occupied-al-Quds as the capital of its own future state.

Virtually all countries maintain their embassies in the city of Tel Aviv, insisting Occupied-al-Quds status be defined through Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.