Palestinian groups in the West Bank and Gaza are urging mass protests Friday to mark 100 days since US President Donald Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The so-called “day of rage” would be the latest in a series of weekly demonstrations, many of them violent, which have taken place since the December 6 announcement and subsequent moves for the US to move its embassy to the city. Many of the protests shrunk in size after the first few weeks.
Renewing the protests, Palestinian factions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip called Thursday for Palestinians to protest Trump’s decision by staging rallies after Friday prayers in the mosques. The protests are being held under the banner of “Friday rage for Jerusalem.”
The Palestinian National and Islamic Forces, a coalition consisting of various groups, called on Palestinians to confront IDF soldiers and settlers immediately after the Friday prayers.
Participation in the Friday protests will send a message to Israel that the Palestinians have not, and will not, forget the unjust decision against the Palestinians, the groups said in a statement.
The Palestinians, the groups added, “will continue to protest against this decision and the plan to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, as well as attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause.”
On Thursday, Hamas issued a separate appeal to Palestinians to participate in Friday’s protests. The terror group that rules the Gaza Strip urged Palestinians to initiate clashes with IDF soldiers and settlers, saying the rage should continue until Trump’s decision is thwarted.
The fresh calls for protests come as the Palestinian Authority has continued to blackball the Trump administration’s peace negotiations efforts in anger over the Jerusalem move, which Ramallah said removed Washington from being an honest broker in ending the conflict.
The White House says it is pushing forward with the drafting of a peace proposal, which is reportedly nearing completion. On Tuesday, the administration held a conference on solving a humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, despite Palestinian representatives refusing to participate.
On Thursday, PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat, a top aide to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said that Trump’s policy of “dictates” was doomed to failure.
Erekat said that solving the crisis in Gaza would be achieved only by lifting the Israeli blockade imposed on the coastal enclave and by ending the dispute between Hamas and the ruling Fatah faction.
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