Dozens of protesters die in Gaza as Israel fetes U.S. Embassy move
Hamas officials vow dissent will continue
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In a jarring contrast, Israeli forces killed at least 55 Palestinians and wounded more than 1,200 during mass protests Monday along the Gaza border, while just a few miles away Israel and the U.S. held a festive inauguration ceremony for the new American Embassy in contested Jerusalem.
It was by far the deadliest day of cross-border violence since a devastating 2014 war between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, and it further dimmed the prospects for President Donald Trump’s hopedfor peace plan.
Gaza protesters set tires ablaze, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air, and hurled firebombs and stones toward Israeli troops across the border. The Israeli military, which has come under international criticism for using excessive force against unarmed protesters, had doubled its forces along the border, fearing a large push by demonstrators to break through. It later said Hamas tried to carry out bombing and shooting attacks under the cover of the protests and released video of protesters ripping away parts of the barbed-wire border fence.
The Trump administration called the deaths “tragic” but said they were the fault of Hamas, and it voiced strong support for Israel’s right to self-defense.
Hamas officials promised that the protests would continue. Khalil al-Hayya, deputy chief of Hamas in Gaza, said the purpose of Monday’s demonstrations was to “powerfully confront the embassy deal” and to “draw the map of return in blood.”
“The American administration bears responsibility for all consequences following the implementation of this unjust decision,” Mr. Hayya said. “This crime will not pass.”
Monday’s protests culminated more than a month of weekly demonstrations aimed at breaking a crippling Israeli-Egyptian border blockade. But the U.S. Embassy move, bitterly opposed by the Palestinians, added further fuel.
There was barely any mention of the Gaza violence at Monday’s lavish inauguration ceremony for the new embassy, an upgraded consular building located just 50 miles away. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials joined an American delegation of Trump administration
officials and Republican and evangelical Christian supporters.
Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and chief Mideast adviser, headlined the U.S. delegation with his wife and fellow White House adviser, Ivanka Trump, as well as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and four Republican senators. Republican super-donor Sheldon Adelson was also present, and evangelical pastors Robert Jeffress — who has previously called Islam a cult, called Mormonism “a heresy from the pit of hell” and declared Jews “can’t be saved” — and John Hagee delivered blessings.
“A great day for Israel!” Mr. Trump tweeted earlier Monday.
Not a single elected Democrat attended the celebration. Most were silent Monday as the ceremony unfolded on television. A few, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, issued written statements of support.
In a videotaped address, Mr. Trump said the embassy move, a key campaign promise, recognizes the “plain reality” that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. Yet he added the United States “remains fully committed to facilitating a lasting peace agreement.”
But Monday’s steadily climbing death toll and wallto-wall condemnation of the embassy move in the Arab world raised new doubts about Mr. Trump’s ambitions to broker what he called the “deal of the century.” More than a year after taking office, Mr. Trump’s Mideast team has yet to produce a long-promised peace plan.
“We’re going through a rough patch,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said Monday on Fox News. “It’ll last as long as it lasts. I can’t predict, but we will be back in a position I’m confident where we’ll be discussing peace.”
Mr. Trump says recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital acknowledges the reality that Israel’s government is located there as well as the ancient Jewish connection to the city. He insists the decision has no impact on future negotiations on the city’s final borders.
But to both Israel and the Palestinians, the American gesture is widely seen as siding with Israel on the most sensitive issue in their longstanding conflict.
“What a glorious day. Remember this moment. This is history,” Mr. Netanyahu told the inauguration ceremony.
“You can only build peace on truth, and the truth is that Jerusalem has been and will always be the capital of the Jewish people, the capital of the Jewish state,” he added.
The Palestinians, who seek east Jerusalem as their capital, have cut off ties with the Trump administration and say the U.S. is unfit to serve as a mediator. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed the area in a move that is not internationally recognized.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, furious over the embassy ceremony, said he “will not accept” any peace deal proposed by the Trump administration.
The Palestinian president also urged the international community to condemn what he said were “massacres” carried out by Israeli troops in Gaza, and officials said the Palestinians would file a war crimes complaint against Israel in the International Criminal Court over settlement construction.
By nightfall, at least 55 Palestinians were killed, the Gaza Health Ministry said. It said 1,204 Palestinians were wounded by gunfire.
Egypt, an important Israeli ally, condemned the killings of Palestinian protesters, while the U.N. human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, decried the “shocking killing of dozens.”
Turkey said it was recalling its ambassador to the United States over the U.S. Embassy move, saying it “disregarded the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people” and would “not serve peace, security and stability in the region.” It also recalled its ambassador to Israel following what it called a “massacre” of Palestinians on the Gaza border.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, called on Israel to respect the “principle of proportionality in the use of force” and show restraint, while also urging Hamas to ensure any protests remain peaceful. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a similar appeal.
The Israeli military estimated a turnout of about 40,000 at Monday’s protest, saying it fell short of what Hamas had hoped for. But officials described what they called “unprecedented violence” unseen in previous weeks.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said hundreds of protesters carried out “concerted, coordinated” attacks on the border fence.
Although the crowd did not manage to break through, he said they caused “significant damage.”