Donald Trump’s Jerusalem Announcement Sparks Protests in Occupied West Bank
At least sixteen Palestinians have been injured in clashes in the occupied West Bank, during protests against President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
According to local reports, the injuries are mostly from tear gas and rubber bullets, but at least one was hurt by live fire.
Israel has deployed hundreds of extra troops in the West Bank.
Donald Trump’s announcement – met with worldwide dismay – reversed decades of US policy on the sensitive issue.
Palestinians in the both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have gone on strike and taken to the streets in protest.
Many of the United States’ closest allies have said they disagree with the move, and both the UN Security Council and the Arab League will meet in the coming days to decide their response.
There are fears the announcement could lead to a renewed outbreak of violence. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has already called for a new intifada, or uprising.
On December 6, President Trump said that he had “determined it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel”.
He said: “I’ve judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.”
The president said he was directing the state department to begin preparations to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Image source Flickr
Donald Trump’s Jerusalem Announcement Sparks Outrage in Arab World
President Donald Trump Recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital
Despite warnings of regional unrest over any such move, the decision fulfills a campaign promise and appeals to Donald Trump’s right-wing base.
Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was “nothing more or less than a recognition of reality”, he added.
“It is also the right thing to do.”
President Trump said the US would support a two-state solution – shorthand for a final settlement that would see the creation of an independent Palestinian state within pre-1967 ceasefire lines in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, living peacefully alongside Israel – “if agreed to by both sides”.
He also refrained from using Israel’s description of Jerusalem as its “eternal and undivided capital”. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of any future Palestinian state.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was profoundly grateful to President Trump, who had “bound himself forever with the history of the capital”.
The prime minister also said Israel was “in touch with other countries to follow suit. I have no doubt other embassies will move to Jerusalem – the time has come”. He did not name any of these countries, although the Philippines and the Czech Republic have been mentioned in Israeli media.
The mood has been very different on the Palestinian side.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has called for a “day of rage” on December 8 and said it should “be the first day of the intifada against the occupier”.