Jerusalem - live updates: Clashes in Jerusalem, Gaza and West Bank as global outrage at Trump decision mounts
Despite warnings from Arab, Muslim and Western allies, President upends decades of US policy
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Your support makes all the difference.A defiant Donald Trump abruptly broke decades of US foreign policy on Wednesday after officially recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital, in a move that sparked protests across the region and led to condemnation from around the globe.
The President also instructed his State Department to begin the three-year process of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city, calling the twin move "a step to advance the peace process" between Israel and the Palestinians.
While Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu praised Mr Trump's announcement as an "historic landmark", Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that with the move, the US was making a "declaration of withdrawal" from its mediation role during the peace process.
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The leader of Hamas has now called for a new uprising against Israel in light of Mr Trump's decision.
"We should call for and we should work on launching an intifada in the face of the Zionist enemy," Ismail Haniyeh said in a speech from Gaza on Thursday. There have been clashes between police in occupied Gaza, the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem.
Mr Trump acted under a 1995 law that requires the United States to move its embassy to Jerusalem. His predecessors, Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama, had consistently put off that decision to avoid inflaming tensions in the Middle East.
A Palestinian envoy said Mr Trump's decision was a declaration of war in the Middle East while Pope Francis called for Jerusalem's status quo to be respected, saying new tension would further inflame world conflicts.
China and Russia expressed concern that the plans could aggravate Middle East hostilities. The United States has never endorsed the Israel's claim of sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem and has insisted its status be resolved through Israeli-Palestinian negotiation.
Any US declaration on Jerusalem's status ahead of a peace deal "would harm peace negotiation process and escalate tension in the region," Saudi Arabia's King Salman told Mr Trump, according to a Saudi readout of their telephone conversation.
Declaring Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the King said, "would constitute a flagrant provocation to all Muslims, all over the world."
In his calls to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II, Mr Trump delivered what appeared to be identical messages of intent.
Both leaders warned him moving the embassy would threaten peace efforts and security and stability in the Middle East and the world, according to statements from their offices.
Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, the head of the Arab League, urged the US to reconsider any recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, warning of "repercussions."
Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told his Parliament such recognition was a "red line" for Muslims and said Turkey could respond by cutting diplomatic ties with Israel.
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, said he reminded Mr Trump in a phone call that Jerusalem should be determined through negotiations on setting up an independent Palestine alongside Israel.
Meeting US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said actions undermining peace efforts "must be absolutely avoided."
Additional reporting by agencies
The Israeli military says two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip and fell short, landing in the Palestinian territory.
The military says sirens wailed Thursday in southern Israel but that the rockets didn't land in Israeli territory.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pope Francis have agreed in a phone call that any attempts to change Jerusalem's status should be avoided, sources in Mr Erdogan's office have told Reuters.
"Emphasising that Jerusalem is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, President Erdogan and Pope Francis stated that any attempt to change the city's status should be avoided," the sources said.
The leader of Hezbollah is calling for a sustained diplomatic campaign by Arab and Muslim nations to pressure the US into reversing its decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Hassan Nasrallah said that all Middle East negotiations must be halted until President Donald Trump walks back his declaration, which the Hezbollah leader said was an "undisguised American aggression" against the Palestinian people.
The Lebanese militant group is one of the leading military threats to Israel. Hezbollah attacks forced Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon in 2000, and the group went to war with Israel again in 2006. Nasrallah, who spoke in a televised address, did not threaten military action over Jerusalem, but said he supports Palestinian calls for a new intifada, or uprising.
He said the US administration is pragmatic and will respond to popular pressure. He called on people to take to the streets and flood social media with their protests, and on governments to register their protests with American ambassadors before expelling them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone and expressed serious concern about Washington's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the Kremlin has said.
Both leaders agreed that further escalation of tensions in the Middle East cannot be allowed, and that the focus should be on finding compromises, including on Jerusalem's status, the Kremlin added in a statement.
The White House has said it is not aware of any other country that planned to follow President Donald Trump's lead and recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
"I'm not aware of any countries that we anticipate that happening at any point soon," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters. "I'm not saying that they aren't, but I'm not aware of them."
A senior Palestinian official in President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah party said on Thursday that U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, due to visit the region later this month, "is unwelcome in Palestine".
"In the name of Fatah I say that we will not welcome Trump's deputy in the Palestinian Territories. He asked to meet (Abbas) on the 19th of this month in Bethlehem, such a meeting will not take place," Jibril Rajoub said.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says that President Donald Trump appeared to be slurring his words during his Jerusalem announcement because his throat was dry.
Mr Trump's apparent slurring was noticed during the speech, and sparked a wave of conspiracy theories about his mental health.
Thousands of people have reportedly taken to the streets in Tunis to protest President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, according to Reuters.
Somalia has become the latest country to weigh in as the world reckons with President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and has called it "dangerous".
"We are urging the US government to seriously reconsider the risks of that its decision could have on the future of the Middle East and the world in general," Somalia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The statement called for the region to redouble its efforts find a solution to the conflict between Palestinians and Israel.
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