Gazans continue to protest Trump's Jerusalem decision

Palestinians continued their protests in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday against a recent US decision to officially recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Scores of protesters marched through Gaza City, waving banners reading “Jerusalem is capital of Palestine.”

“We came here to reiterate our rejection of the US decision on Jerusalem,” Khidr Habib, a senior member of Islamic Jihad group, told the rally.

“Jerusalem will always remain the capital of Palestine,” he said, going on to call on the Palestinians to close ranks to “confront all challenges facing the Palestinian cause.”

Mohieddin Abu Daqqa, the head of the local As Saiqa NGO, for his part, called on the Palestinians to “maintain their anger against the US decision on Jerusalem.”

On December 6, US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, triggering a world outcry and protests across the Palestinian territories. 

Since then, at least 19 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem – occupied by Israel since 1967 – might eventually serve as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.

US delegation expelled

Palestinian activists on Tuesday expelled a US delegation visiting the West Bank city of Bethlehem in the protests. 

Activists intercepted vehicles of a US  State Department delegation visiting the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and chanted slogans against US policies toward the Palestinians, said Mohammed Lahham, a Revolutionary Council member of President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah group.

"Activists told the delegation that they were unwelcome in Bethlehem and expelled them from the city." he said. 

There was no comment from the US authorities.