Palestinians angry at reports of early US embassy move to Jerusalem
The move of the embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city cleared a final bureaucratic hurdle this week when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed off on the security plan.
Israeli border police officers stand in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City (file photo).
Palestinians on Saturday expressed anger over reports that the United States will move its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv within months, earlier than expected.
A US official said on Friday that the United States was expected to open its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem in May. This would be shortly after Israel's 70th anniversary.
US Vice President Mike Pence told the Israeli parliament last month that the move would take place by the end of 2019.
The embassy in Jerusalem will be gradually expanded in existing consular facilities in the Arnona neighbourhood, while the search for a permanent site has already begun for what US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert called a "longer-term undertaking."
US President Donald Trump announced last December that the United States recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, infuriating even Washington's Arab allies and dismaying Palestinians who want the eastern part of the city as their capital.
Trump's decision has also sown discord between the United States and the European Union over Middle East peace efforts.
TRT World's Staci Bivens reports.
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