Trump declaration revives bloodshed
Israeli troops kill 2 Palestinians in protests vs recognition of Jerusalem as Jewish capital
At least two people were killed in clashes with Israeli troops on Friday when thousands of Palestinians demonstrated against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The Palestinian president said Washington could no longer be a peace broker.
Across the Arab and Muslim worlds, thousands more protesters took to the streets on the Muslim holy day to express solidarity with the Palestinians and outrage at Trump’s reversal of decades of US policy.
Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man near the Gaza border, the first confirmed death in two days of unrest. Scores of people were wounded on the “Day of Rage.” A second person later died of their wounds, a Gaza hospital official said.
Burning tires
The Israeli Army said hundreds of Palestinians were rolling burning tires and throwing rocks at soldiers across the border.
“During the riots IDF (Israeli Defense Force) soldiers fired selectively toward two main instigators and hits were confirmed,” it said.
More than 80 Palestinians were wounded in the occupied West Bank and Gaza by Israeli live fire and rubber bullets, according to Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service. Dozens more suffered from tear gas inhalation. Thirty- one were wounded on Thursday.
As Friday prayers ended at Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, worshippers made their way toward the walled Old City gates, chanting “Jerusalem is ours, Jerusalem is our capital” and “We don’t need empty words, we need stones and Kalashnikovs.” Scuffles broke out between protesters and police.
Stone throwers
In Hebron, Bethlehem and Nablus, dozens of Palestinians threw stones at Israeli soldiers who fired back with tear gas.
In Gaza, controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, called on worshippers through mosque loudspeakers to join protests. Hamas had called for a new Palestinian uprising like the “intifadas” of 1987-1993 and 20002005, which saw thousands of Palestinians and more than 1,000 Israelis killed.
“Whoever moves his embassy to occupied Jerusalem will become an enemy of the Palestinians and a target of Palestinian factions,” said Hamas leader Fathy Hammad as protesters in Gaza burned posters of Trump.
“We declare an intifada until the liberation of Jerusalem and all of Palestine.”
Protests largely died down as night fell. Rocket sirens sounded in southern Israeli towns near the Gaza border and the Israeli military said it had intercepted one of at least two projectiles fired from Gaza. No casualties were reported.
Crude rockets
Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a militant group linked to Abbas’ Fatah party, claimed responsibility for firing one of the rockets, and said it was in protest against Trump’s decision.
The military said another rocket hit the Israeli town of Sderot. No casualties were reported.
Israel’s military said that in response to the rocket fire, its aircraft bombed militant targets in Gaza and the Palestinian health ministry said at least 25 people were wounded in the strikes, including six children.
The Israeli military said it had carried out the strikes on a militant training camp and on a weapons depot. Witnesses said most of the wounded were residents of a building near the camp.
At the United Nations, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Washington still had credibility as a mediator.
“The United States has credibility with both sides. Israel will never be, and should never be, bullied into an agreement by the United Nations, or by any collection of countries that have proven their disregard for Israel’s security,” Haley told the UN Security Council.