By Dan Williams and Nidal al-Mughrabi
JERUSALEM/GAZA
(Reuters) = The Islamist group Hamas urged Palestinians on Thursday to
abandon peace efforts and launch a new uprising against Israel in
response to U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as
its capital.
The
Israeli military said it was reinforcing troops in the occupied West
Bank, deploying several new army battalions and putting other forces on
standby, describing the measures as part of its "readiness for possible
developments".
Protests so far have been scattered and largely non-violent.
But
dozens of Palestinians gathered at two points on the Gaza border fence
with Israel and threw rocks at soldiers on the other side. Inside Gaza,
thousands of Palestinians rallied, some chanting: "Death to America!
Death to the fool Trump!" and burning tires.
Trump
reversed decades of U.S. policy on Wednesday by recognizing Jerusalem
as the capital of Israel, imperiling Middle East peace efforts and
upsetting the Arab world and Western allies alike.
(For a graphic on possible Jerusalem U.S. Embassy sites, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2jIXIoq)
The
status of Jerusalem - home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and
Christian religions - is one of the biggest obstacles to reaching a
peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
"We
should call for and we should work on launching an intifada
(Palestinian uprising) in the face of the Zionist enemy," Hamas leader
Ismail Haniyeh said in a speech in Gaza.
Haniyeh,
elected the group's overall leader in May, urged Palestinians, Muslims
and Arabs to hold rallies against the U.S decision on Friday, calling it
a "day of rage".
Naser
Al-Qidwa, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and senior
official in his Fatah party, urged Palestinians to stage protests but
said they should be peaceful.
Israel
considers Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital. Palestinians
want the capital of an independent state of theirs to be in the city's
eastern sector, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and
annexed in a move never recognized internationally.
Trump
announced his administration would begin a process of moving the U.S.
Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step expected to take years and one
that his predecessors opted not to take to avoid inflaming tensions.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who hailed Trump’s announcement as a
"historic landmark", said on Thursday many countries would follow the
U.S. move and contacts were underway. He did not name the countries he
was referring to.
"President
Trump has immortalized himself in the chronicles of our capital. His
name will now be held aloft, alongside other names connected to the
glorious history of Jerusalem and of our people," he said in a speech at
Israel's Foreign Ministry.
Other
close Western allies of Washington, including France and Britain, have
been critical of Trump's move. Pope Francis has called for Jerusalem's
status quo to be respected, while China and Russia have also expressed
concern.
The
EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said: "The European Union
has a clear and united position. We believe the only realistic solution
to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two states and
with Jerusalem as the capital of both."
Trump's
decision has raised doubts about his administration’s ability to follow
through on a peace effort that Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser,
Jared Kushner, has led for months aimed at reviving long-stalled
negotiations.
The United Nations Security Council is likely to meet on Friday to discuss the U.S. decision, diplomats said.
"STRATEGIC DANGER"
Israel
and the United States consider Hamas, which has fought three wars with
Israel since 2007, a terrorist organization. Hamas does not recognize
Israel's right to exist and its suicide bombings helped spearhead the
last intifada, from 2000 to 2005.
"We
have given instruction to all Hamas members and to all its wings to be
fully ready for any new instructions or orders that may be given to
confront this strategic danger that threatens Jerusalem and threatens
Palestine," Haniyeh said.
"United
Jerusalem is Arab and Muslim, and it is the capital of the state of
Palestine, all of Palestine," he said, referring to territory including
Israel as well as the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the
Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Haniyeh
called on Western-backed Abbas to withdraw from peacemaking with Israel
and on Arabs to boycott the Trump administration.
Abbas
said on Wednesday the United States had abdicated its role as a
mediator in peace efforts. Palestinian secular and Islamist factions
have called for a general strike and rallies on Thursday.
Fearing
recrimination could disrupt reconciliation efforts between Hamas and
Fatah, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Al-Hamdallah and other Fatah
delegates arrived in Gaza on Thursday to meet Hamas.
The
international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the
whole of Jerusalem, believing its status should be resolved in
negotiations. No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem.
Trump's
decision fulfils a campaign promise and will please Republican
conservatives and evangelicals who make up a sizeable portion of his
domestic support.
He
said his move was not intended to tip the scale in favor of Israel and
that any deal involving the future of Jerusalem would have to be
negotiated by the parties, but the move was seen almost uniformly in
Arab capitals as a sharp tilt towards Israel.
The
United States is asking Israel to temper its response to the
announcement because Washington expects a backlash and is weighing the
potential threat to U.S. facilities and people, according to a State
Department document seen by Reuters.
Protests
broke out in areas of Jordan's capital, Amman, inhabited by Palestinian
refugees, and several hundred protesters gathered outside the U.S.
consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday after Trump's announcement.
Protests
are expected on Thursday in Pakistan, where the government said of
Trump's move: "It is a serious setback to the rule of law and
international norms. It signals a severe blow to the Middle East peace
process."
Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan said the United States was "exposing its colonial ambition in Muslim territory".
Palestinians
switched off Christmas lights on trees outside Bethlehem's Church of
the Nativity, where Christians believe Jesus was born, and in Ramallah,
next to the burial site of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in
protest.
(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi in Kabul and Kay Johnson in Islamabad; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Janet Lawrence)
By: writter
Birbal Tamang
News 24 In Nepal
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