US officially moves Israel embassy to J’lem: Ambassador

By Said Amouri

JERUSALEM (AA) - U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on Monday officially announced the relocation of Washington’s Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to West Jerusalem’s Arnona district.

An inauguration ceremony in Jerusalem was attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Israeli President Reuven Rivlin; U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka; the latter’s husband, Jared Kushner (who also serves as a senior advisor to Trump); and a host of senior officials from both sides.

“Big day for Israel,” Trump tweeted on Monday. “Congratulations!”

Relocation of the U.S. embassy coincides with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment in 1948 -- an event Palestinians refer to as the “Nakba” or the “The Catastrophe”.

Trump sparked an international outcry last December when he unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and vowed to relocate Washington's embassy to the flashpoint city.

Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians have converged along the Gaza Strip’s eastern border with Israel to protest the U.S. embassy move.

Since Monday morning, at least 41 Palestinian demonstrators have been killed -- and hundreds more injured -- by Israeli army forces deployed along the other side of the border, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Last week, the Israeli government said the ongoing protests along Gaza’s border constituted a “state of war” in which international humanitarian law did not apply.