Hundreds wounded, two dead after Israeli troops attack Palestinians

Israeli troops used live rounds and tear gas against protestors in different parts of the occupied West Bank and in East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Friday, leaving at two dead and hundreds injured.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that a total of 300 people were injured in protests across West Bank and Jerusalem.

Thousands of Palestinians staged rallies across the West Bank and East Jerusalem following Friday prayers to protest U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, hundreds of Palestinians marched from the city center to Israel’s Bet Eil army checkpoint.

In several instances, Israeli forces responded to protests with rubber bullets and excessive teargas. In some cases, they have fired live ammunition into the air in an effort to disperse demonstrators.

In Jerusalem, meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians marched from the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to the Bab al-Amoud (also known as the Damascus Gate) shouting slogans against Trump’s controversial move and stressing Jerusalem’s Arabic and Muslim identity.

Here, too, Israeli police dispersed protesters using excessive amounts of teargas and occasionally firing live ammunition into the air.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, dozens of Palestinians marched to the Qalandia checkpoint north of Jerusalem, where they engaged in clashes with Israeli forces.

The Islamic Resistant Movement Hamas has declared Friday a “day of rage” in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. A statement released by Hamas said the “day of rage” was organized to “respond to the U.S. decision that targets the holy city” and send a message to Israel “with all available means.”

The statement added that Jerusalem was the “red line” and said the U.S. move would "open the gates of hell."

On Wednesday, despite widespread opposition across the Middle East, the U.S. president announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The dramatic shift in U.S. policy has sparked demonstrations on Thursday in the occupied Palestinian territories, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq and in some other Muslim countries.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem, now occupied by Israel, might eventually serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.