United States Embassy Opens In Jerusalem As Israeli Security Forces Fight Off Border Incursions

The United States today (14 May) opened up the relocated embassy in Jerusalem, Israel, thus fulfilling one of President Donald Trump’s major poll promises. Trump’s decision to relocate the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has faced significant opposition and outrage from European and Arab leaders who now feel that the move could hamper peace negotiations in the middle-east. Palestinians are refusing to meet representatives of the United States claiming that they no longer view the country as the broker of peace talks.

White House national-security adviser John Bolton said that the relocation would help the process. In a television interview, he said that the relocation was a recognition of reality which would help the peace process. Most of Israel’s government agencies, including the Knesset are located in Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, thousands of protesters from the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip flocked to the border fence, clashing with the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), reports The Wall Street Journal. Protests from the Palestinian side have reportedly gotten more violent since Trump announced the move late last year. The last few months have seen many attempted border incursions into Israel that resulted in the IDF firing back.

A report by Haaretz says that Palestinians have resorted to sending burning kites to the Israeli side that usually cause brush fires and also ‘kite-bombs’ where kites with remotely controlled explosives were sent to the Israeli side. Israel on its part has started recruiting amateur drone racers to bring down these kites.