BEIRUT — Thousands of Hezbollah supporters joined a fiery rally in Beirut on Monday as the movement's leader urged Palestinians to rise up after President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
Demonstrators packed the streets of Beirut’s southern suburbs in a carefully managed march. Crowds chanted “Death to America, death to Israel!” and waved Palestinian and Hezbollah flags.
Israel’s military, meanwhile, reported that two rockets were fired at its territory from the Gaza Strip on Monday, the third volley since Trump said last week that he would break with decades of U.S. foreign policy to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. That announcement has sparked protests across the Arab world.
[Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israeli capital in reversal of U.S. policy]
Hundreds of protesters clashed with Lebanese security forces near the U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Sunday, hurling rocks and bottles toward the compound as the army beat back the crowd using tear gas and water cannons.
But so far, more-serious violence has not materialized, and Palestinian concerns about Jerusalem have failed to energize most Arab governments. Many leaders here seem more focused on conflicts in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere that are roiling the region.
Addressing the crowd Monday via video link, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah described Trump’s policy change as a “foolish decision” that would mark the “beginning of the end” of the Jewish state.
“The most important response will be to announce a third Palestinian intifada on all occupied Palestinian territories,” he said, using an Arabic term that evokes earlier uprisings.
[The many casualties of Trump’s Jerusalem move]
Lebanon harbors more than 500,000 Palestinian refugees, many of whom fled their homes in what is now Israel and the West Bank during the wars of 1948 and 1967. The Lebanese state has never formally recognized their status as refugees, and Palestinians are barred from dozens of professions.
Sitting on the sidewalk during Nasrallah’s speech Thursday was Alia Shahata, born in 1948 to parents who she said left Palestinian territories after being expelled from their home.
“Trump is humiliating all Arabs with his decision,” she said. “My family has no rights here in Lebanon. Our boys all work on coffee stalls inside the refugee camp. Know that we would all go back to Palestinian territories tomorrow if we could.”
As she spoke, a group of boys no older than 10 posed for photographs in the street, dressed in military fatigues and raising their hands in Hezbollah salutes. Founded in response to Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, Hezbollah, a Shiite militia backed by Iran, has also played a key role in turning the tide of Syria’s civil war in favor of President Bashar al-Assad.
[For Trump, Jerusalem is extension of global culture war]
Trump’s decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has drawn widespread condemnation from allies around the world, many of whom had seen the city’s eventual status as a matter to be settled in a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Monday that the 28-member bloc delivered a “clear and united” message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a visit to Brussels, and that the only “realistic” solution is for two states, with Jerusalem as their shared capital.
She rejected Netanyahu’s public statement that he expects European nations to follow the U.S. lead and move their embassies as well. “He can keep his expectations for others,” she said.
In his speech, Netanyahu said Trump had put “facts on the table” with the recognition of Jerusalem, which he said makes peace possible by recognizing reality.
[Who supports Trump on Jerusalem? Europe’s anti-Islam politicians.]
But at home in Israel, the fallout continued with the rocket attacks from Gaza.
The Israeli military said it was not sure whether the first rocket reached its territory but responded by bombing two Hamas military posts. No casualties were reported in the exchange.
Hours later a second rocket was fired, the roar of the launch audible from Gaza City, indicating that it may have had a larger payload. The rocket was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system in the region of Ashkelon. Shortly afterward, bombing could be heard in Gaza. The Israeli military said it had targeted Hamas military posts in northern Gaza.
The rocket fire came just hours after Iranian media reported that Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, had reaffirmed support for the Gaza militant groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas during phone calls with their military leaders.
He “urged all resistance movements in the region to boost their readiness to defend the al-Aqsa Mosque,” Press TV reported, referring to the Jerusalem mosque.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also spoke with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Monday, it said.
No one immediately asserted responsibility for the rocket fire, but Israeli officials say they hold Hamas responsible for all such firings from Gaza.
Hamas has called for an uprising against Israel in the wake of the Jerusalem announcement. Two of its militants were killed after Israel responded to rocket fire last week, while two protesters who Israel said were rolling burning tires and throwing rocks were also fatally shot near the border.
Loveday Morris in Jerusalem and Hazem Balousha in Gaza City contributed to this report.
Read more:
Lebanese security forces clash with protesters near U.S. Embassy in Beirut
In Jerusalem, Trump’s speech sparks scenes of joy, outrage
“It’s catastrophic”: U.S. allies reject Trump’s Jerusalem pronouncement
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