Scores have been wounded as Israeli aircraft bombed military facilities in Gaza. Violent protests have broken out in Gaza and the West Bank following the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Momani
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Israel on Friday carried out airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for earlier rocket fire from the occupied territories. At least 10 people wounded in the bombing, with some reports putting the number of injured as high as 25.
The Israeli military said the strikes had targeted a militant training camp and a weapons depot. Israel also indicated that its Iron Dome anti-missile system had intercepted the initial rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli army said around 4,500 Palestinians "participated in violent riots" along the Gaza-Israel border. A similar number of protesters also rallied in the West Bank, where 65 people were wounded.
Friday's protests have been dubbed a "day of rage" by Palestinian militant group Hamas and were called in response to US President Donald Trump's decision on Wednesday to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Trump's declaration, which has drawn near-worldwide condemnation, saw the UN Security Council hold an emergency meeting in which the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, defended the move.
Haley told Council members in New York that it was "simple common sense" to recognize Jerusalem as the capital given that Israel's parliament is located there. Nevertheless, she insisted that "the president and this administration remain committed to the peace process," without going into further detail.
Haley also used the emergency council meeting to scold the UN for allegedly doing more to damage peace prospects in the Middle East than advance them. The United Nations, she said, had "outrageously been of the world’s foremost centers of hostility towards Israel," adding that the US would no longer stand by while Israel is "unfairly attacked."
Despite the Jerusalem move and subsequent protests, Haley insisted there should be no reservations about US credibility as a prospective mediator in any upcoming Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
Nevertheless, five European countries — permanent Security Council members Britain and France, as well as Germany, Italy and Sweden — issued a joint statement later on Friday saying the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital was "not in line" with Security Council resolutions and "unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region."
The Security Council also heard from Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour, who decried the US move. "One party cannot continue to monopolize the peace process," especially one that is biased in favor of "the occupying power," Israel, he said.
Mansour also urged the Council to reject the US declaration or risk turning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "into a never-ending religious war that will only be exploited by extremists, fueling more radicalism, violence and strife in the region and elsewhere."
It remained unclear, however, if the protests and confrontations would keep their momentum after Friday.
Muslims worldwide respond to Palestinian call for protests
Thousands of Muslims worldwide have demonstrated against US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Protesters marched the streets, burned flags and shouted anti-Israel slogans.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Gharabli
Clashes with police
A Palestinian protester hurls stones toward Israeli police during clashes near the Jewish settlement of Beit Al, close to the West Bank city of Ramallah. Palestinians called for a "day of rage" in response to US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. At least two protesters were killed on Friday during clashes with security forces.
Image: Reuters/M. Torokman
Protests following prayers
Jerusalem itself has seen some of the largest protests, as here in front of the Dome of the Rock Islamic shrine at the al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City. Hundreds of additional police were deployed to control the masses of protesters after Palestinian calls for protests after Friday prayers.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Gharabli
Protests reach Iraq
And those calls for protest have received a response from Shiite Muslims in Iraq. These men have taken to the streets in the southern city of Basra. Palestinians are angry because they want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state; Trump's move, supported by Israel, could thwart that desire.
Image: Reuters/E. al-Sudani
Israeli and US flags burned
Indian-controlled Kashmir also saw protests, with Muslim men seen here burning Israeli and US flags during a rally in Budgam, southwest of Srinagar. Protesters marched in several places in Srinagar and other parts of the region after Friday prayers, chanting slogans such as "Down with America" and "Down with Israel."
Image: picture alliance/dpa/AP Photo/D. Yasin
'Long live Islam'
In Malaysia, more than 1,000 Muslims protested outside the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur against Trump's decision. The protesters, led by Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, marched from a nearby mosque after Friday prayers to the US Embassy, halting traffic as they chanted "Long live Islam.”
Image: Reuters
Turkey: Protesters voice their indignation
These Turkish women are venting their anger in support of the Palestinian cause. But Trump's decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem has been condemned by many governments of non-Muslim countries as well.
Image: Reuters/O. Orsal
Trump's picture burned
Protesters in Egypt burn a picture of US President Donald Trump with his face crossed during a protest in front of the Syndicate of Journalists in Cairo. The picture reads, "Journalists are telling you Trump, Jerusalem is Arab." Hundreds of protesters also gathered in Al-Azhar mosque and outside in its courtyard.
Image: Reuters/M. A. E. Ghany
'Stop your blind support'!
In Jakarta, Indonesia, protesters in the world's most populous Muslim nation wear Palestine headbands. More than 300 protesters shouted "Go to hell Israel!" and called on Trump to stop his "blind support" for the Jewish state.
Image: Reuters/Beawiharta
Massive marches in Iran
The streets of the Iranian capital, Tehran, have also been the scene of huge protests at the US decision. As an arch-enemy of Israel, the Iranian government is likely to view the US move as particularly offensive.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/Stringer
Muslims in Germany join the outrage
Germany has also seen protests, with mostly Muslim demonstrators attending a rally at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate while waving Palestinian and Turkish flags. The German government has been among those to warn urgently against Trump's move.
