Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Wednesday that Israel's decision to renew a closure of the former PLO office in Jerusalem was "an act of piracy."

He wrote in a letter to foreign officials in Jerusalem that "such illegal Israeli measures are considered null and void by the international community."

Erekat said Israel was violating international law and UN resolutions by continuing to close Palestinian institutions in east Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in 1967.

Israel shut down the house during the second intifada in 2001 in response to Palestinian attacks. A Palestinian official told Ma'an that Israel renewed the order this week.

In 2010 at a meeting of the Middle East quartet the European Union and Russia suggested that Israel reopen the Orient House as a goodwill gesture to entice Palestinians back to negotiations.

Since declaring the city its "undivided" capital in 1980, Israel has closed down dozens of Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem. It maintains a ban on gatherings sponsored by the Palestinian Authority.

One of Israel's conditions under the Quartet-backed "Roadmap" peace plan was to reopen Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, but Israeli leaders in 2003 refused to follow through.