RAMALLAH, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Thursday left for Turkey's Istanbul for an urgent summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) on Jerusalem.
Hamdallah headed a delegation of the ministers of foreign affairs, Jerusalem affairs, Waqfs and religious affairs, and labor, as well as a number of high ranking executives, according to a press statement by the Palestinian government.
The Palestinian prime minister will attend the summit on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas, who had an ear surgery in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday.
At the request of the Palestinians, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who currently holds OIC's rotating chairmanship, called for holding an extraordinary summit on May 18, to discuss "the latest serious developments in the State of Palestine."
At least 63 Palestinians have been killed and 2,800 others wounded in clashes with Israeli soldiers since Monday, when the U.S. opened its embassy in the disputed holy city of Jerusalem.
The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as the capital, while Israel claims the entire city as its eternal indivisible capital.