(JERUSALEM) — Thousands of Palestinian protesters
clashed with Israeli forces in east Jerusalem and the West Bank,
demonstrators in the Gaza Strip burned U.S. flags and pictures of
President Donald Trump, and a top Palestinian official said Vice
President Mike Pence would not be welcome in the West Bank, in a show of
rage Thursday over the American decision to recognize Jerusalem as
Israel’s capital.
Israeli forces were bracing for the possibility of even stronger violence on Friday, when tens of thousands of Palestinians attend weekly prayers at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque, the city’s most sacred Islamic site. In Gaza, the supreme leader of the Hamas militant group called on Palestinians to launch a new uprising against Israel.
The Palestinians were blindsided by Trump’s move to depart from decades of U.S. policy on Jerusalem and upend longstanding international assurances that the fate of the city would be determined in negotiations.
The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem, captured by
Israel in 1967, as their capital. Israel claims the entire city,
including east Jerusalem, home to sensitive Jewish, Muslim and Christian
holy sites, as its undivided capital. The opposing claims lie at the
heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and have often spilled over
into deadly violence.
The Palestinians declared three “days of rage,” shuttering schools and businesses, and staging angry demonstrations at Damascus Gate, one of the entrances to Jerusalem’s Old City, and cities across the West Bank and Gaza.
“We are here. We believe in our rights and one day it (will) become Jerusalem, the capital for the Palestinian people,” declared Rania Hatem, a protester outside the Old City.
Israeli forces were bracing for the possibility of even stronger violence on Friday, when tens of thousands of Palestinians attend weekly prayers at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque, the city’s most sacred Islamic site. In Gaza, the supreme leader of the Hamas militant group called on Palestinians to launch a new uprising against Israel.
The Palestinians were blindsided by Trump’s move to depart from decades of U.S. policy on Jerusalem and upend longstanding international assurances that the fate of the city would be determined in negotiations.
The Palestinians declared three “days of rage,” shuttering schools and businesses, and staging angry demonstrations at Damascus Gate, one of the entrances to Jerusalem’s Old City, and cities across the West Bank and Gaza.
“We are here. We believe in our rights and one day it (will) become Jerusalem, the capital for the Palestinian people,” declared Rania Hatem, a protester outside the Old City.
