Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Tensions still simmering over Trump’s decision on Jerusalem
GAZA — Two Hamas militants were killed in an Israeli airstrike Saturday in Gaza after rocket fire from the enclave hit an Israeli town, as the death toll in violence linked to President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital rose to four.
The Israeli military said it had responded to rocket fire by striking four facilities belonging to Hamas in the Gaza Strip: two weapons manufacturing sites, a weapons warehouse and a military compound. It called the rockets fired at Israel a “severe act of aggression.”
Confrontations were reported elsewhere Saturday, but less widespread than a day earlier. Riots had broken out in 20 locations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the army said. Around 450 protesters burned tires and threw rocks along the Gaza border fence, while 600 took part in unrest in the West Bank, it said.
The diplomatic fallout also continued, with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas canceling a planned meeting with Vice President Mike Pence when he visits later this month.
Egypt’s Coptic Church said Saturday that its pope had also canceled his meeting with Pence when he travels on to Cairo.
It said the U.S. decision did not take into account the “feelings of millions of Arab people.”
In Cairo, Arab foreign ministers kicked off an emergency meeting with scathing criticism of Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but with few ideas on concrete actions to counter Washington’s move.
The Arab League meeting, which brings together foreign ministers from member states, took place as protests continued in the Palestinian territories and across the Mideast.