Protesters killed as US embassy opens

AT LEAST 52 Palestinians were killed and another 1,200 injured amid clashes with Israeli troops along the Gaza border as Donald Trump’s top advisers celebrated the opening of the new US embassy in Jerusalem.

In a video address aired at the opening, the US President said the new embassy had been “a long time coming”. Mr Trump said that the US had “failed to acknowledge the obvious” for many years, adding: “Today, we follow through on this recognition.”

The president’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, along with US treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin, led the US delegation with a single message: Only Donald Trump had the courage to act on what America has wanted for a long time.

The relocation of the embassy from Tel Aviv has infuriated the Palestinians, who seek east Jerusalem as a future capital.

Mr Trump added in his video address that the new embassy was opening “many, many years ahead of schedule”.

He added that he remains committed to “facilitating a lasting peace agreement”, and said he was “extending a hand of friendship to Israel, the Palestinians and to all of their neighbours”.

In a Fox News interview that made no reference to the climbing death toll, Mr Mnuchin repeatedly referenced Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.