JERUSALEM — Clashes between hundreds of Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops erupted across the West Bank on Thursday while demonstrators in **** burned posters of President ************ and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Israeli and U.S. flags.
The leader of the ***** militant group, which runs ****, called for a new ***** uprising in a widespread show of anger over *****’s move to recognize Jerusalem as ******’s capital.
In the West Bank, crowds of protesters set tires on **** and hurled stones at ********* troops. In the biblical town of Bethlehem, troops ***** water cannons and ******** to disperse a crowd, in clashes that could cloud the upcoming Christmas celebrations in the town of Jesus’ birth. In Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian government, protesters set tires on ****, sending a thick plume of black ***** over the city.
*****’s dramatic break on Wednesday with decades of U.S. policy on Jerusalem counters long-standing international assurances to the Palestinians that the fate of the city will be determined in negotiations. The Palestinians seek Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, captured by ****** in 1967, as a future capital.
Palestinians shuttered their schools and shops on Thursday to begin three “days of rage” over *****’s decision. Rallies were underway in other West Bank cities, and a demonstration was being held outside the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City.
There were no serious ********** reported in Thursday’s clashes. But Friday, the ****** holy day, could provide an important test when Palestinians gather for weekly **** prayers.
In the **** Strip, *****’ leader Ismail Haniyeh called on Palestinians to launch a new intifada, or uprising, against ****** on Friday.
“The American decision is an ********** on our people and a *** on our sanctuaries,” Haniyeh said in a speech, urging supporters “to be ready for any orders.”
“We want the uprising to last and continue to let ***** and the occupation regret this decision,” he said.
The Israeli military said it would deploy several battalions to the West Bank ahead of Friday, while other troops have been put on alert to address “possible developments.”
The conflicting claims to Jerusalem, and especially its Old City, where sensitive Jewish, ****** and Christian holy sites are located, lie at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While *****’s decision had no impact on the city’s daily life, it carried deep symbolic meaning, and was seen as siding with ****** and an attempt to impose a solution on the Palestinians.
******, which claims all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital, has welcomed *****’s decision. Netanyahu said ***** “bound himself forever” to the history of Jerusalem with the move and claimed other states are considering following suit.
“We are already in contact with other states that will make a similar recognition,” he said at the Foreign Ministry on Thursday.
Anger at the U.S. has rippled across the Arab *****.
Saudi Arabia’s royal court, led by King Salman and his powerful son, condemned the ***** administration’s decision in a rare public rebuke by the U.S. ally. The regional powerhouse, which could help the White House push through a *********** settlement, said Thursday the kingdom had already warned against this step and “continues to express its deep regret at the U.S. administration’s decision,” describing it “unjustified and irresponsible.”
*****’s claim Wednesday that he still wants to pursue what he has called the “ultimate” Mideast deal was met by mounting skepticism. ******* President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused ***** of throwing the Mideast into a “ring of ****” and said his motives were difficult to fathom. “It’s not possible to understand what you are trying to get out of it,” Erdogan said, referring to ***** in a speech to a group of workers at Ankara’s airport.
U.S. Embassies across much of the *********** and parts of Africa warned American citizens of possible ******** following *****’s move.
The Government of Canada updated its travel advisory to ******, the West Bank and the **** Strip on Dec. 5 ahead of *****’s announcement, and will uphold its validity to take into account ‘Day of Rage’ ******** from Dec. 6-8. The advisory warns Canadians to “exercise a high degree of caution in Jerusalem due to ******** and clashes between protestors and local authorities in East Jerusalem and parts of the Old City, and politically motivated ******* and ******** throughout the city.” There is also an advisory for Bethlehem, Jericho and Ramallah, as “security situation can change rapidly”.