PALESTINE PREZ ABBAS NOT TO MEET PENCE

Unrest across Palestinian territories following Trump’s capital move

Gaza Ramallah, Dec. 9: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will refuse to meet United States Vice-President Mike Pence later this month following Washington’s controversial policy shift on Jerusalem, an Abbas aide said on Saturday, as protests gripped the Palestinian territories for a third straight day.

“There will be no meeting with the vice president of America in Palestine,” Abbas’s diplomatic adviser Majdi alKhaldi said.

“The United States has crossed all the red lines with the Jerusalem decision,” he added.

There have been fears of a much larger escalation of violence after Hamas leader Ismail Haniya called for a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising, and analysts have been anxiously watching what happens next.

Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group both renewed that call on Saturday.

Dozens of protesters were wounded by rubber bullets or live fire in clashes in the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem that followed the main weekly Muslim prayers on Friday.

Tens of thousands also protested in Muslim and Arab countries, including Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia.

Saturday's pre-dawn air strike on a base of Hamas's military wing in Nusseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, was one of several, the Israeli military said.

It followed three rocket attacks Friday night from Gaza into southern Israel. — AFP