Continued Palestinian Protests at Gaza Border; Romania to Move Embassy to Jerusalem

As the Romanian government has decided to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and the Israeli Prime Minister has stated that "at least six other countries are ready to transfer their embassies to Jerusalem," Palestinians protested at the Gaza-Israel border for the third consecutive week on Friday, April 20. According to Romanian and Israeli media, several Romanian ministers announced on Thursday, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of Israel's independence, that Bucharest's decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem is "final." Reports indicate that the Romanian government will officially announce this decision "soon" and has also set a timeline for the embassy transfer. Meanwhile, Rami Hamdallah, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, met with the Romanian representative in the Palestinian territories on Thursday and urged Bucharest to reconsider its decision before making it public. Additionally, Honduras announced last week, just before Israel's independence celebrations, that its Congress has also approved the transfer of its embassy to Jerusalem; the Israeli Prime Minister and the President of Honduras, who studied at an Israeli university, have very close relations. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, stated at an Independence Day reception for foreign ambassadors that several other countries are waiting for the right opportunity to announce their embassy transfers to Jerusalem, with "at least six countries" indicating they will announce this decision soon. He did not name these countries, but some European nations like Hungary have been mentioned in the media. Netanyahu also mentioned that Israel will offer "special privileges" and "specific services" to the first ten countries that establish embassies in Jerusalem. U.S. President Donald Trump, coinciding with the start of Israel's Independence Day celebrations, tweeted that he is "eager for the U.S. embassy to move to Jerusalem next month." Trump announced last December that the U.S. recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital and will move its embassy there. The U.S. embassy transfer is set to take place on May 15, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the recognition of Israel's existence by then-President Harry Truman. Meanwhile, the "Return" protests in Gaza, which began on "Land Day" and are expected to continue until May 15, continued on Friday, April 20. While 30,000 participated in the first Friday and about 20,000 in the second, the number of protesters dropped to only 3,000 on the third Friday, resulting in three deaths and several injuries; the deceased included a 24-year-old man in northern Gaza, a 25-year-old man in eastern Jabalia, and another 25-year-old man in southern Gaza. Despite the noticeable decrease in the number of protesters, Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, and Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas's political bureau, separately attended the protests to praise the demonstrators and condemn Israel. Haniyeh stated, "Expect a large protest on 'Nakba Day.'" However, Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Defense Minister, warned Hamas not to provoke, or else they would be suppressed; he stated that Israel is not seeking adventure and is only defending its security and that of its people. The Israeli army dropped leaflets from the air on Friday to warn Palestinians not to approach the border and not to become pawns of Hamas leaders. The Israeli army emphasized that it would not tolerate Palestinian attempts to cross the border barriers. The army also published an image of one of the Palestinian kites that had been painted with the Nazi swastika symbol. Recently, Palestinians have been flying kites with incendiary Molotov cocktails attached to them towards Israeli territory to create fires in Israeli agricultural fields. Palestinians consider Israel's independence a "Nakba" (meaning "catastrophe" in Arabic). Israel celebrated its independence according to the Hebrew calendar in recent days, while Palestinians hold protests on May 15, the Gregorian date of Israel's independence in 1948, known as "Nakba Day." The Palestinian Fatah movement claims that East Jerusalem should be the capital of a future Palestinian state, while Hamas asserts that Israel has no right to exist throughout Jerusalem and the land of Palestine; however, peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have stalled for years.