Clashes and rocket fire marked another Friday rocked by rage at the US President's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital
ADVERTISEMENTFor the fourth Friday running, Palestinians have taken to the streets of Gaza and the occupied West Bank to protest at US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Palestinian health officials said at least 20 protesters were wounded by live fire.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said soldiers mainly responded with tear gas after being confronted by some 4,000 Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza, some throwing rocks and fire bombs and setting tyres alight.
The military said it targeted posts belonging to Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, after intercepting two of three rockets fired into Israel. Police said the third struck a building, causing damage but no casualties.
Israelis honouring a soldier killed during the 2014 Gaza war were among those forced to take cover as rocket sirens sounded.
Trump outraged Palestinians and sparked anger in the Middle East and among world powers with his Jerusalem declaration on December 6, which reversed decades of US policy on one of the most sensitive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital. Palestinians want the capital of an independent Palestinian state to be in the city's eastern sector, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War and annexed in a move never recognised internationally.
Most countries regard the status of Jerusalem as a matter to be settled in an eventual Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, although that process is now stalled.
A UN General Assembly resolution passed on December 21 rejected Trump's Jerusalem declaration.
with Reuters