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United States opens its Israeli embassy in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM - The United States officially opened its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem on Monday, fulfilling a pledge by President Donald Trump who has recognised the holy city as the Israeli capital.
"Today we open the United States embassy in Jerusalem, Israel," U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman said at the beginning of the inaugural ceremony, attended by a U.S. delegation from Washington and Israeli leaders.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in a recorded message at a ceremony opening the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, said on Monday he remained committed to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
"Our greatest hope is for peace," said Trump, whose recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocation of the embassy to the holy city from Tel Aviv, has outraged Palestinians and drawn international concern.
"The United States remains fully committed to facilitating a lasting peace agreement," Trump said. "The United States will always be a great friend of Israel and a partner in the cause of freedom and peace."
On the Gaza border, at least 38 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire in the latest in a round of protests dubbed the "Great March of Return", health officials said.
Trump's recognition of contested Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December outraged Palestinians, who said the United States could no longer serve as an honest broker in any peace process with Israel.
Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they want to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Israel regards all of the city, including the eastern sector it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed, as its "eternal and indivisible capital" in a move that has not won international recognition. — Reuters
