Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces on Friday left one person dead after calls for a “day of rage” as U.S. President Donald J. Trump‘s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital again sent shockwaves through the region.
Diplomatic fallout from the deeply controversial declaration also continued, with suggestions Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas could refuse to meet U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on his visit to the region later this month.
The U.N. Security Council was meeting Friday in an emergency session to discuss Trump’s move, which has drawn near universal condemnation, including from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Whether unrest would spread and spiral both in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere in the region was being closely watched, with Friday marking a second day of unrest.
Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, had called for a “day of rage” after its leader Ismail Haniya said a new intifada, or uprising, should be launched.
The Palestinian killed in clashes along Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip was the first death linked to protests since Mr. Trump’s declaration on Wednesday.
A second Palestinian in Gaza was in “very critical” condition after being shot in the head during the clashes.
The Israeli army confirmed it had shot two people along the Gaza border, accusing them of being “main instigators” of “violent riots.”
Dozens of people were wounded from rubber bullets or live fire in Gaza and the West Bank, according to Palestinian officials.
The Israeli army said “violent riots” had broken out in around 30 locations involving some 3,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and hundreds on the Gaza border.
Palestinians in some areas set tyres alight while throwing stones and firebombs at Israeli forces, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Police said more than 50 people were arrested in the West Bank.
Tens of thousands of people also took to the streets of Muslim and Arab countries across the world in protest, including in Jordan, Turkey and Malaysia.