New protests flared in West Asia and elsewhere on Sunday over U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a move that has drawn global condemnation and sparked days of unrest in the Palestinian territories.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has repeatedly warned of the consequences of Mr. Trump’s move, also lashed out on Sunday by calling Israel a “terrorist state” and “state that kills children”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, visited Europe for his first trip abroad since Mr. Trump’s declaration, with talks planned with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels.
Air strikes in Gaza
Mr. Trump’s announcement on Wednesday has been followed by days of protests and clashes in the Palestinian territories. Four Palestinians were killed either in clashes or from Israeli air strikes in retaliation for rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands have also protested in Muslim and Arab countries, including Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia.
Further protests were held in Lebanon, Indonesia, Egypt and the Palestinian territories on Sunday.
Lebanese security forces fired tear gas and water cannons at several hundred demonstrators near the U.S. embassy.
Protesters waving Palestinian and Lebanese flags, and sporting black-and-white checked keffiyeh scarves, chanted slogans against Mr. Trump.
Several people were injured by rocks, tear gas, and rubber bullets. In Jakarta, some 5,000 Indonesians protested in solidarity with the Palestinians, gathering outside the U.S. embassy in the world’s most-populous Muslim country. In Cairo, students and professors demonstrated at the prestigious Al-Azhar University, a university spokesman said, with pictures on social media showing several hundred protesters. Dozens of students protested at two other Cairo universities. A protest and clashes also broke out in Al-Arroub refugee camp in the south of the occupied West Bank, leaving one Palestinian wounded from rubber bullets, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Separately, the Israeli military said it destroyed a Hamas tunnel stretching from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory — an incident unrelated to the recent unrest, but which threatened to further increase tensions. Such tunnels have been used in the past to carry out attacks.
Mr. Trump’s declaration has been followed by near universal condemnation and diplomatic fallout, with warnings it risks setting off a new round of violence.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is due to visit the region later this month, but Palestinian officials say President Mahmud Abbas will refuse to meet him.
Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros II cancelled a meeting with Mr. Pence as well, saying Mr. Trump’s announcement had failed to take into account the "feelings of millions" of Arabs.
Arab League’s call
Arab League Foreign Ministers on Saturday called on the United States to rescind the move.
Mr. Netanyahu’s trip to Europe was long planned, but the recent crisis is almost sure to be discussed.
Both Mr. Macron and EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini have criticised Mr. Trump’s decision, and there have been ongoing tensions between Mr. Netanyahu and European Union officials over Israeli settlement building in the West Bank.
The Premier criticised European “hypocrisy” as he left for the trip. “I hear voices from there condemning President Trump’s historic statement, but I have not heard condemnations of the rockets fired at Israel or the terrible incitement against it. I am not prepared to accept this hypocrisy,” he said.
There have been fears of a much larger escalation of violence after Hamas leader Ismail Haniya called for a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising. In Rome, Pope Francis called Sunday for “wisdom and prudence”, asking world leaders “to avert a new spiral of violence”.
Washington has found itself increasingly isolated on the global stage.
Five European countries on the Security Council insisted the new U.S. policy was inconsistent with past resolutions, including one declaring east Jerusalem to be Israeli-occupied.
