Palestinians ask court to order US embassy out of Jerusalem

The Palestinian Authority has filed a case with the United Nations’ highest court asking its judges to order Washington to remove the recently relocated U.S. embassy from Jerusalem.

The move announced Friday by the Hague-based International Court of Justice comes against a backdrop of deeply strained ties between Washington and the Palestinians, in part because of the Trump Administration’s decision in December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel‘s capital and to move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv in May. The Palestinian Authority broke off contact with the U.S. after the Jerusalem announcement.

The court says that the Palestinians’ case asks the court “to order the United States of America to withdraw the diplomatic mission from the Holy City of Jerusalem.”

Cases at the court can take years to complete.