In response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to move his country’s embassy in Israel to the city of Jerusalem, the head of the Pharmacists’ Syndicate, Mohie Abeid, called for a complete boycott US pharmaceutical drugs.

He explained in a media statement broadcast on the privately-owned TV channel, Al-Nahar, that Egypt’s trade syndicate decided boycott certain US commodities, and his syndicate should follow suit by boycotting US-made pharmaceutical drugs. Instead, he says, the syndicate should purchase alternative Egyptian-made medicines.

He added that Trump’s decision to move the US embassy in Israel to the city of Jerusalem, considered a holy city for Muslims, is a sign of his support to Islamic state and terrorism.

When asked how his syndicate would cope with the absence of alternatives to certain types of US-made medicines, he noted that in certain cases his syndicate could purchase US-made medicine if there is no alternative, in order to avoid harming Egyptian patients.

Directly following Trump’s announcement proclaiming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, protests erupted across the West Bank and the Gaza strip, as the Islamist group Hamas urged Palestinians to launch a fresh uprising against Israel.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest barriers to a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace. It’s eastern sector was captured by Israel in a 1967 war and annexed in a move which was not recognized internationally.

Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent state they seek.