Four Palestinians killed in new wave of violence over Trump Jerusalem move
GAZA CITY AFP Dec15, 2017
Four Palestinians were killed and hundreds wounded Friday in violence with Israeli forces across the Palestinian territories, as tens of thousands of people joined new protests against Washington's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
US President Donald Trump's December 6 announcement that he would break with decades of American policy and move his embassy to Jerusalem has stirred international condemnation, as well as protests across the Palestinian territories and Arab world.
The violence comes days before US Vice President Mike Pence is due to visit Israel, though he will no longer meet with Palestinian officials after they cancelled meetings in protest at the embassy move.
Protests broke out across the West Bank, with major ones taking place in Hebron and Nablus, after the end of the weekly Muslim prayers, often a cat a lyst for clashes between young Palestinians and Israeli soldiers.
In Gaza, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets and a few thousand clashed with Israeli forces along different parts of the border.
The Palestinian health ministry said 164 people were injured in Gaza, with five in serious condition, while more than 100 were hospitalised across the West Bank The Israeli army said around 2,500 people were involved in “riots” across the West Bank and about 3,500 in Gaza.
A poll conducted after Trump's announcement by the respected Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found 45 percent of Palestinians supported a violent popular uprising, up from 35 percent three months previously.