Trump's Jerusalem move: Arab allies attack decision

Trump's Jerusalem move: Arab allies attack decision

Arab officials say US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital risks plunging the Middle East into "violence and chaos".

The move ended US neutrality on one of the region's most sensitive issues.

Arab League foreign ministers now say it means the US cannot be relied upon as a broker of Middle East peace.

The statement by 22 countries, including close US allies, comes after a third day of violence and protests in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israel has always regarded Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem - occupied by Israel in the 1967 war - as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

For Mr Trump the decision fulfils a campaign promise and he has said it was "nothing more or less than a recognition of reality".

But he has faced fierce criticism for the decision.

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The Arab League resolution was agreed at 03:00 (01:00 GMT) after hours of talks in Cairo. It was backed by a number of US allies, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, who had already voiced their concern.

The resolution said:

The US had "withdrawn itself as a sponsor and broker" of any possible Israeli-Palestinian peace process through its decision

Mr Trump's move "deepens tension, ignites anger and threatens to plunge region into more violence and chaos"

A request would be made for the UN Security Council to condemn the move

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday, the US found itself isolated, with the other 14 members all condemning Mr Trump's declaration.

But US ambassador Nikki Haley accused the UN of bias, saying it "has outrageously been one of the world's foremost centres of hostility towards Israel", and that the US was still committed to finding peace.

Media captionAnalysis: Breaking down what Mr Trump said and what it means for peace

On Saturday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had heard "voices of condemnation over President Trump's historic announcement" but had "not heard any condemnation for the rocket firing against Israel that has come and the awful incitement against us".

Three rockets were fired towards Israel from Gaza on Friday, leading Israel to carry out air strikes in response. It said it hit military sites belonging to the Islamist group Hamas, killing two of its members.

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Hundreds protested in the West Bank and Gaza on Saturday, but crowds were smaller than in previous days.

Clashes occurred in the West Bank town of Nablus on Saturday

In northern Israel a bus was pelted with rocks as it passed through mostly Arab communities, with three Israelis injured, Haaretz reported.

Thousands of Palestinians had protested on Friday, with solidarity demonstrations held across the Arab world and in other Muslim-majority nations.

Why Jerusalem is so important

Jerusalem is of huge importance to both Israel and the Palestinians. It contains sites sacred to the three major monotheistic faiths - Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

Israel occupied the eastern sector - previously occupied by Jordan - in 1967, and annexed it in 1980, but the move has never been recognised internationally.

Media captionWhy the city of Jerusalem matters

Some 330,000 Palestinians live in East Jerusalem, along with about 200,000 Israeli Jews in a dozen settlements there. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel does not regard them as settlements but legitimate neighbourhoods.

According to the 1993 Israel-Palestinian peace accords, the final status of Jerusalem is meant to be discussed in the latter stages of peace talks.

The last round of talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2014 and while the US is formulating fresh proposals, Palestinian officials have said Mr Trump's announcement has disqualified the US from brokering future negotiations.

Palestinians shot dead by Israeli army in clashes over Trump's Jerusalem declaration

Palestinians shot dead by Israeli army in clashes over Trump's Jerusalem declaration

Israel launches airstrikes in response to rockets fired from Gaza as a "day of rage" results in two Palestinian deaths.

By Bethan Staton and Alan McGuinness, News Reporters

Two Palestinians have been shot dead by the Israeli army in Gaza during clashes over Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

As tensions rise following the US President's move, Israel responded to three rockets being fired from Gaza with airstrikes it said targeted a Hamas training compound and ammunition warehouse.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said 25 people were wounded in the strikes, six of them children.

It comes after Mahmoud al Masri, 30, and 54-year-old Maher Atallahwas were killed in clashes with Israeli security forces.

A third man was in a "very critical" condition after being shot in the head, the ministry added.

The deaths are the first after protests began at the announcement on Wednesday that Mr Trump would move Israel's US embassy to Jerusalem and his declaration that he recognises the city as Israel's capital.

Israeli forces clash with Palestinian protestors near an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank city of Bethlehem

Protests as Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israeli capital

Palestinian protesters run during clashes in the southern Gaza Strip

There were protests in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Gaza's Khan Younis,

The Israeli military said in a statement that soldiers had "fired selectively at two main instigators" and confirmed hitting them.

It said 4,500 Palestinians had been involved in "violent riots at six locations along the border with the Gaza Strip".

One of three rockets fired on Friday hit the town of Sderot, the army added, but did not comment on possible casualties.

Palestinians had declared Friday a "day of rage", with protests in cities including Jerusalem, Ramallah and Gaza's Khan Younis, where Mahmoud al Masri was killed and at least 40 others were wounded.

People at the no-man's land by the border fence rolled burning tyres and threw stones, and were met with gunfire and tear gas from soldiers.

In the West Bank, Palestinian medics said dozens of demonstrators had been treated for tear gas inhalation and rubber bullet wounds, following sporadic clashes at Israeli checkpoints.

A Palestinian protester uses a sling shot to hurl stones towards Israeli troops during clashes in Ramallah

Palestinians hurled stones towards Israeli troops in Ramallah

Worshippers at Al Aqsa mosque headed towards Jerusalem's Old City after Friday prayers, chanting "Jerusalem is ours, Jerusalem is our capital" and "We don't need empty words, we need stones and Kalashnikovs".

Heavy security reinforcements had been put in place in expectation of violence, but by the evening the situation appeared calmer than some had expected.

Mr Trump's decision has received widespread condemnation, with leaders including Theresa May, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's Vladimir Putin all speaking out.

At the UN on Friday, traditional US allies criticised the move.

There was a heavy Israeli security presence in the city on Friday

There was a heavy Israeli security presence in Jerusalem on Friday

Britain's UN ambassador Matthew Rycroft said it was "unhelpful to peace", while Italy's Sebastiano Cardi voiced fears of "the risk of unrest and tensions in the region".

In response, US ambassador Nikki Haley said Washington is more committed to peace "than we've ever been before - and we believe we might be closer to that goal than ever before".

She also hit out at the UN, accusing the organisation of hindering the peace process.

Ms Haley said: "Over many years the United Nations has outrageously been of the world's foremost centres of hostility towards Israel.

"The UN has done much more damage to the prospects for Middle East peace than to advance them. We will not be a party to that."

Palestinian protesters gathered in Bethlehem, to reject Trump's Jerusalem declaration

Palestinian protesters gathered in Bethlehem to reject Trump's Jerusalem declaration

Top Palestinian diplomat Saeb Erekat earlier said the announcement meant "the two-state solution was over", while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called for a new Palestinian uprising, or Intifada.

Both Israelis and Palestinians stake a claim on Jerusalem, and the status of the city was set to be decided in a final peace agreement.

The east of the city has been annexed by Israel since the 1967 war, which also saw the occupation of the West Bank.

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Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and undivided capital and the Temple Mount the centre of the Jewish faith. But the city is also home to more than 300,000 Palestinians, some 40% of its population, and Islam's third holiest site.

US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said on Friday that the proposed embassy move would likely take several years, and that it "did not indicate any final status for Jerusalem".