US power no longer enough to calm Mid East conflict

After the worst bloodshed in Gaza for years, there are fears of even greater carnage on what Palestinians called Nakba Day.

کد خبر: ۷۹۹۳۵۲

تاریخ: ۲۵ ارديبهشت ۱۳۹۷ - ۰۹:۱۷

It is the 70th anniversary of the displacement of Palestinians from their homes during the 1948 war, the newly-created state of Israel fought with its neighbours.

Around 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled their homes never to return, ending up in refugee camps in Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

Fifty-eight Palestinians died on Monday in protests in Gaza, shot dead by the Israeli military as they marched up to the border fence.

Hamas, the Islamist organisation that controls Gaza, urged Palestinians to march on the fence.

They said they are marking the Nakba, and the highly controversial move of the US embassy to Jerusalem under President Donald Trump.

Israelis said the protests are being used as cover by Hamas militants attempting to infiltrate Israel to carry out terror attacks on civilians.

They have used sniper fire, tear gas and drones to suppress them.

Palestinian areas in East Jerusalem and the West Bank remain tense after the slaughter in Gaza and after the embassy move.

The juxtaposition of smiling American and Israeli dignitaries in Jerusalem with the pictures emerging from Gaza will be causing outrage across the Arab and Muslim world.

There will also be many funerals in Gaza for those killed in the protests, each one likely to be attended by huge crowds and the focus of more fury.

Hamas may be able to mobilise thousands more people to risk their lives and march on the border fence facing the guns of Israeli snipers.

In past escalations of the conflict, the US has led efforts to defuse tensions.

This time Palestinians say they regard America as firmly on the side of Israel.

There is no longer an outside power with the trust of both sides and the leverage to force compromises.

Palestinian American relations have plunged to a new low.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas lashed out at the Trump administration following the embassy move and the Gaza violence, which he condemned as a massacre.

Abbas said he "will not accept" any peace deal proposed by the Trump administration.

He added: "This is not an embassy - it's a US settlement outpost in Jerusalem."