Russia, Egypt slam US embassy move to Jerusalem

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian and Egyptian foreign ministers slammed the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem on Monday.

Russia has evaluated the U.S. decision negatively several times, the head of Russian diplomacy Sergey Lavrov said in a joint news conference in Moscow .

"One cannot in such a way, unilaterally, revise the agreements, fixed in decisions [made by] the international community," he said. "[...] The determination of the status of Jerusalem is one of the most important of these questions, [and] can be solved exclusively through a direct dialogue between the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships," Lavrov said.

Russia offered a platform for the direct dialogue between Israel and Palestine many times, this offer is still valid, Lavrov said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said the U.S. decision violated international agreements between Israel and Palestine.

"Egypt many times stated and repeated that this unilateral decision of the U.S. violates the international agreements between Israel and Palestine on the peace process," he said.

"[There is a] big number of victims and wounded -- the international community has to pay attention to this -- during peaceful demonstrations of Palestinian citizens who claim their lawful rights referring to the creation of an independent state with the capital in East Jerusalem", he said.

At least 52 Palestinian demonstrators have been martyred Monday -- and hundreds more injured -- by Israeli army forces deployed along the other side of the border, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Thousands of Palestinians have gathered on Gaza Strip’s eastern border since early morning to take part in protests aimed to commemorate the Nakba anniversary and protest relocating the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The rallies will culminate on Tuesday, May 15, the 70th anniversary of Israel's establishment -- an event Palestinians refer to as the "Nakba" or "the Catastrophe".