Clashes erupt outside US embassy in Beirut

By Wassim Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) – Violent clashes erupted outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Sunday during a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Demonstrators burnt tyres, the U.S. and Israeli flags as they pushed to break through a barbed wire erected by security forces around the embassy complex, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

Security forces fired teargas and water cannon to disperse the angry protesters.

On Wednesday, Trump announced U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and said the U.S. Embassy would be relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The dramatic shift in Washington’s Jerusalem policy triggered demonstrations in the occupied Palestinian territories and several 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.