Israel strikes back
Palestinians killed amid Gaza protests
Israeli airstrikes killed two Palestinians Saturday as violence continued over President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital.
The bodies of the Palestinians were found in the rubble of a Hamas military site in Gaza that had been attacked by Israel’s air force.
Israel said it hit arms-manufacturing sites, a weapons warehouse and a military compound.
Israel attacked in retaliation for three rockets fired on its territory from Gaza.
Israel’s missile-defense system shot down one rocket, another landed in wasteland and the third came down Sderot, an Israeli town on the Gaza border, causing no casualties.
The two deaths were among four reported in the violence on Friday and Saturday.
Some 600 Palestinian protesters in Bethlehem hurled firebombs and stones at Israeli troops. The troops fired back with tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades.
In Jerusalem, Israeli troops arrested six people involved in an “illegal” protest, but the Old City was relatively calm.
Angry Palestinian authorities also moved diplomatically, announcing they were cutting off communication with the United States.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas canceled his Dec. 19 meet- ing with US Vice President Mike Pence, who is to visit the region later this month.
“We will seek a new mediator from our Arab brothers and the international community, a mediator who can help with reaching a two-state solution,” Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad AlMaliki announced Saturday in Cairo before an emergency Arab League meeting.
Trump’s decision was widely denounced in the Middle East. Pope Tawadros II, the head of Egypt’s Coptic church, also canceled an upcoming meeting with Pence. So did Ahmed Mohamed Al-Tayyeb, the grand imam of the Al Azhar University in Cairo.
Even North Korea got into the act, again calling Trump a “dotard’’ and deriding his decision to move the embassy as a “reckless, wicked act.’’
American tourists wandered through Jerusalem Saturday without incident. Some praised Trump’s decision.
“It felt amazing to have a president finally be bold enough to say that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel,” Hallie Powers, 41, told The Sunday Times of London. “He is courageous and fearless.”
But some Israelis feared more violence. “It’s crazy and provocative to announce this now,” said a 23-year-old woman who gave her name as Mairav. “The last thing we want is more conflict.”