Israeli troops killed dozens of Palestinians taking part in mass protests on the Gaza border on Monday as the United States opened its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem.
The U.S. move fulfilled a pledge by President Donald Trump, who has recognised the holy city as the Israeli capital, but it has fired Palestinian anger and drawn criticism from many foreign governments as a set back to peace efforts.
At the embassy inauguration ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump for "having the courage to keep your promises".
"What a glorious day for Israel," Netanyahu said in a speech. "We are in Jerusalem and we are here to stay."
Trump, in a recorded message, said he remained committed to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
On the Gaza border, Palestinian protests quickly turned into bloodshed.
Israeli gunfire killed at least 52 Palestinians, the highest toll in a single day since a series of protests demanding the right to return to ancestral homes in Israel began on March 30.
Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said the dead included six children under the age of 18. About 2,400 Palestinians had been wounded, about half of them by live bullets.
France called on Israel to show restraint and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply concerned" by the events in Gaza.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians had streamed to the coastal enclave's land border, some approaching the Israeli fence - a line Israeli leaders said Palestinians would not be allowed to breach. Clouds of black smoke from tyres set alight by demonstrators rose in the air.
Demonstrators, some armed with slingshots, hurled stones at the Israeli security forces, who fired volleys of tear gas and intense rounds of gunfire.
"Today is the big day when we will cross the fence and tell Israel and the world we will not accept being occupied forever," said Gaza science teacher Ali, who declined to give his last name.
Trump's recognition of contested Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December outraged Palestinians, who said the United States could no longer serve as an honest broker in any peace process with Israel.
Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they want to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Israel regards all of the city, including the eastern sector it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed, as its "eternal and indivisible capital" in a move that has not won international recognition.
Most countries say the status of Jerusalem - a sacred city to Jews, Muslims and Christians - should be determined in a final peace settlement and that moving their embassies now would prejudge any such deal. Peace talks aimed a finding a two-state solution to the conflict have been frozen since 2014.
WHEELCHAIR PROTESTER
The Palestinian dead on Monday included a medic and a man in a wheelchair who had been pictured on social media using a slingshot.
The Israeli military said three of those killed were armed militants whom it said tried to place explosives near the fence in the southern Gaza Strip.
The latest casualties raised the Palestinian death toll to 88 since the protests started six weeks ago, the worst bout of bloodshed since the 2014 Gaza war. No Israeli casualties have been reported.
At the protest sites, families sat in the shade of tents nearly 800 metres (yards) from the border fence. Hundreds of protesters ventured closer to the barrier, rolling burning tyres and hurling stones.
Some flew flaming kites to try and torch bushes on the other side and distract Israeli marksmen. Hundreds of Palestinians were treated for tear gas inhalation.
"The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will act forcefully against any terrorist activity and will operate to prevent attacks against Israelis," the military said in a statement.
The killings have drawn international criticism in recent weeks, but the United States has echoed Israel in accusing Gaza's ruling Hamas movement of instigating violence, an allegation it denies.
More than 2 million people are crammed into the narrow strip, which is blockaded by Egypt and Israel
TRUMP PEACE PLAN
The Trump administration has nearly completed a long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan but is undecided on how and when to roll it out, given Palestinians' outrage over the embassy move and their contention that Washington can no longer be an honest broker.
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, in a statement on Monday, accused the United States of "blatant violations of international law".
The protests are scheduled to culminate on Tuesday, the day Palestinians mourn as the "Nakba" or "Catastrophe" when, in 1948, hundreds of thousands of them were driven out of their homes or fled the fighting around Israel's creation.
"Choosing a tragic day in Palestinian history (to open the Jerusalem embassy) shows great insensibility and disrespect for the core principles of the peace process," Hamdallah wrote.
In London, the British government said it had no plans to move its Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and said it disagreed with the U.S. decision to do so.
The Russian government said it feared the embassy move would increase tensions across the Middle East.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the U.S. move flouted international law.
"France calls on all actors to show responsibility to prevent a new escalation," Le Drian said in a statement.
The U.N.'s Guterres, speaking to reporters in Vienna, said
the Gaza blooshed showed the need for a political solution. "There is no Plan B to a two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace," he said.
The Afghan Taliban, in a rare comment on matters outside Afghanistan, condemned the U.S. Embassy move and called on Muslim countries to oppose it.
Reuters
Mon May 14 2018
Female Palestinian demonstrators react to tear gas fired by Israeli troops during a protest against the U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem, at the Israel-Gaza border in the southern Gaza Strip, May 14, 2018. - REUTERS
Tiga kilang perabot, kotak di Bandar Puncak Alam terbakar
Tiga premis dipercayai kilang perabot dan kotak di Taman Perindustrian Alam Jaya, Bandar Puncak Alam di Kuala Selangor dilaporkan terbakar malam ini.
Tumpuan Ahad – 15 Disember 2024
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan di Astro AWANI.
Selebriti lelaki ditahan di Cyberjaya, disyaki miliki ganja
Seorang selebriti tempatan ditahan selepas disyaki memiliki dadah jenis ganja dalam serbuan di sebuah rumah teres di Cyberjaya, pada Sabtu.
BN dan UMNO tetap rakan setia politik dengan PH
Pengerusi Barisan Nasional (BN), Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi menyatakan parti itu akan kekal setia sebagai rakan politik bersama Pakatan Harapan (PH) di dalam Kerajaan Perpaduan pimpinan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Jelas beliau, BN dan juga UMNO juga tidak akan termakan dengan ajakan serta pujukan daripada mana-mana pihak untuk meninggalkan gabungan sedia ada.
Saya dinasihatkan kekal sebagai MB Selangor - Amirudin
Amirudin berkata kestabilan adalah penting untuk kerajaan negeri meneruskan apa yang telah dimulakan, termasuk merangka Rancangan Selangor Kedua yang dijangka siap pada 2026.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Sabtu, 14 Disember 2024.
10 Berita Pilihan - (14 Disember 2024)
Antara pelbagai berita dalam dan luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Selebriti lelaki ditahan di Cyberjaya, disyaki miliki ganja
Seorang selebriti tempatan ditahan selepas disyaki memiliki dadah jenis ganja dalam serbuan di sebuah rumah teres di Cyberjaya, hari ini.
Checkmate! remaja tewaskan juara bertahan dari China
Seorang remaja berusia 18 tahun dari India, Gukesh Dommaraju dinobatkan juara dunia catur termuda selepas menundukkan lawannya dari China yang juga juara bertahan, Ding Liren. Dommaraju menewaskan Liren dalam satu perlawanan dramatik yang berlansung di Singapura.
Saya dinasihat kekal sebagai MB sehingga akhir penggal - Amirudin
Amirudin berkata kestabilan adalah penting untuk kerajaan negeri meneruskan apa yang telah dimulakan.
Netanyahu beri keterangan di mahkamah kes rasuah, pecah amanah
Netanyahu didakwa menerima hadiah daripada rakan-rakan jutawannya, serta meminta kelonggaran penguatkuasaan bagi beberapa syarikat media.
Tentera Israel serang lebih 250 sasaran ketenteraan di Syria
Sumber keselamatan Israel memberitahu tentera negara itu telah melaksanakan salah satu operasi serangan terbesar dalam sejarah tentera udara mereka di Syria.
Israel ambil langkah elak timbul ancaman selepas kejatuhan Assad - Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel ketika ini sedang mengambil langkah bagi mengelakkan sebarang ancaman yang mungkin timbul akibat kejatuhan Presiden Syria, Bashar al-Assad.
‘Tangan ghaib’ mahu tukar rejim Syria agar tidak ganggu kepentingan Israel, AS - Pakar
Tumbangnya rejim Bashar al-Assad di Syria adalah usaha terancang untuk mendirikan sebuah kerajaan baharu yang tidak mengganggu kepentingan Amerika Syarikat dan Israel di rantau berkenaan.
Bekas Menteri Pertahanan Israel beri amaran pembersihan etnik di Gaza
Kabinet kanan Perdana Menteri Benjamin Netanyahu dikatakan sedang mencari jalan mengeluarkan rakyat Palestin dari utara Gaza.
Makin kuat desakan dunia, lagi cepat Netanyahu diheret ke ICC - Syed Ibrahim
Jangan putus harapan dan terus yakin bahawa Perdana Menteri Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu pasti akan dihadapkan ke Mahkamah Jenayah Antarabangsa (ICC) atas dakwaan jenayah perang.
Netanyahu sedia terima gencatan senjata di Gaza, tetapi bukan penamat perang
Gencatan senjata di Gaza buka peluang pembebasan tawanan dan Israel masih berhasrat meneruskan perang dengan Hamas.
Mungkin kena Perang Dunia Ketiga baru Netanyahu dihukum - Penganalisis
Hanya Perang Dunia Ketiga yang mampu membawa Perdana Menteri Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu ke Mahkamah Jenayah Antarabangsa (ICC) atas dakwaan jenayah perang.
Israel rayu kepada ICC berhubung waran tangkap terhadap Netanyahu
Israel "menafikan kuasa" ICC dan Hague "dan kesahihan waran tangkap" terhadap Benjamin Netanyahu dan Yoav Gallant.
Israel lancar serangan udara di tengah Lubnan
Israel lancar serangan Udara yang memusnahkan sebuah bangunan berhampiran Jalan Hamra di tengah Beirut pada Selasa.