Palestinian demonstrators run for cover from Israeli fire and tear gas during a protest against the US embassy move to Jerusalem at the Israel-Gaza border in the southern Gaza Strip, May 14, 2018.
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“The Hamas terrorist organization has been inciting violence for years, long before the United States chose to move our embassy”, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the council. Having tried and failed to defeat Israel with rockets and armed cross-border attacks, Hamas this spring deployed a new strategy: assembling thousands of nominal civilians to march on and attempt to breach the border fence, in the calculation that many would be killed.
Journalist David Ignatius, a guest on the show, reiterated that the contrast of the images “will shock people in the Middle East, should be a shocking contrast for people all over the world”.
Ankara said that US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and open an embassy there was “violating worldwide law and all relevant UN Resolutions”.
He also said Palestinians protesters were using hundreds of pipe bombs, grenades and fire-bombs.
The Gaza protests were part of “The Great March of Return” ― weeks of demonstrations running from late March until the annual Nakba Day on May 15, which commemorates the displacement of Palestinians when the state of Israel was created in 1948.
Monday was the deadliest day in Gaza since the 2014 war with Israel.
In October 2015, then United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon released a summary of past global protection regimes for disputed territories as requested by the Palestinians, who had been calling at the time for an worldwide protection force to be deployed at Jerusalem’s holy sites.
In contrast to the scenes in Gaza, Israeli dignitaries and guests attended a ceremony in Jerusalem to open the US Embassy following its relocation from Tel Aviv.
Germany and Belgium backed Britain’s call for an independent investigation into Monday’s violence, with Belgian PM Charles Michel describing Israel’s actions as “unacceptable”.
Mansour, of Palestine, called the clashes an “odious massacre” and said the US embassy opening, which coincided with the 70th anniversary of the May 15, 1948 removal of Palestinians to establish the state of Israel, provoked Palestinians to demonstrate.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley defended Israel, however.
Some funerals were held in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip yesterday, while others took place today.
Hours after Kushner’s speech, White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah also claimed that the Palestinian deaths on Monday were “an unfortunate propaganda attempt” by Hamas.
In December 2017, eight other countries voted against a United Nations resolution telling America to not recognise Jerusalem as the country’s capital.
According to the chairperson, such move, compromises the search for a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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The opening of the American embassy in Jerusalem is a poignant event for Hamas, which has hoped for years to reclaim East Jerusalem and make it the capital of the Palestinian state.
