Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian representative to Washington, said in an interview that the State Department informed the Palestine Liberation Organization of the U.S. decision to shutter its Washington office in a move that he said is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to begin enacting its so-called “deal of the century.”

“We don’t think this is just about bullying…we believe this is about the implementing of Israel’s grocery list, they are implementing it rather than pressuring us,” Mr. Zomlot said in a interview on Monday, adding that relations between the Palestinians and Washington “are a historic low.”

He said the Trump administration’s move to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in bilateral assistance to the Palestinians and to the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency; its criticisms of the way Palestinian refugees are defined at the United Nations; the Jerusalem move and its policy on settlements are evidence that the Trump administration is pressing ahead with its yet-to-be-revealed peace plan.