Gaza’s health ministry says Israeli forces have shot dead at least 16 Palestinians along the border of the Gaza Strip, where thousands gathered to protest Monday as the United States prepared to officially move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The health officials said at least 500 people have been injured, including dozens by gunfire. The deaths bring the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during six weeks of protests to more than 50.
Critics have faulted Israeli forces for using live fire, while Israel says its actions are necessary for security as people threaten the border fence.
In addition to the fresh gunfire Monday from the Israeli side, the security forces also sent tear gas behind lines of protesters, but the crowds seemed undeterred and continued to assemble.
Protesters also lobbed various objects across the border and planned to burn tires ahead of the embassy opening later in the day. Many businesses and schools in Gaza were closed.
Along with rejecting the U.S. embassy move, Palestinians are also protesting to mark the anniversary of what they call the “nakba” or “catastrophe” in reference to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were expelled or fled during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.
The new U.S. embassy site is an interim location operating inside the existing U.S. consulate building in Jerusalem while a search begins for a larger site.
U.S. President Donald Trump pledged during his campaign to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and in December he broke with longstanding policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. That same month, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution rejecting Trump’s decisions regarding Jerusalem.
Trump celebrated ahead of Monday’s event, saying on Twitter, “A great day for Israel!”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that moving the embassy “is a national security priority” and that Trump “wanted the American embassy real estate on the right side of town” in Jerusalem.
Israel sees all of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
The issue has long been seen as one of the last big items that would need to be resolved in any Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
Source: VOA News.
Discussion about this post