Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has decided not to include religious affiliation on new Palestinian identity cards, a senior official said on Thursday.

Hassan Olwi, a director in the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, told Xinhua that the decision was made a few days ago in accordance with the Palestinian basic law which upholds religious and racial equality.

"The part that defines the religion of the Palestinian citizen has been erased," Olwi said, adding that the same arrangement will be applied to citizens' passports.

He said that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has officially notified the Israeli side on the decision.

According to the Oslo peace treaty reached between Israel and the Palestinians in 1993, the PNA could not make any changes to the Palestinian IDs or passports without coordinating with Israel.

"Unfortunately, Israel still rejects to deal with the Palestinian passports that carry the name 'State of Palestine,' although the United Nations had recognized it as a nonmember observer state in November 2012," said Olwi.

In January, Abbas issued a decree in coordination with the PNA government to change the logo in all official documents and papers from that of the PNA to the State of Palestine.

However, Israel refuses to recognize the State of Palestine unless the Palestinians sign a permanent peace agreement through direct peace negotiations sponsored by the United States.