Erdogan seeks to lead Muslim response on Occupied-al-Quds Israel strikes kill four Palestinians as Trump rage simmers

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip killed two Hamas fighters on Saturday, as unrest simmered across the Palestinian territories over US President Donald Trump’s declaration of al-Quds as Israel’s capital.

A total of four people have now been killed and dozens wounded since Trump announced his deeply controversial decision which drew criticism from every other member of the UN Security Council at an emergency meeting on Friday.

There were fresh clashes on Saturday as Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank hurled stones at Israeli troops who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds. In Gaza, mourners vented their anger at the funeral of one of two people killed by Israeli troops during clashes at the border fence on Friday.

There have been fears of a much larger escalation of violence after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called for a new Palestinian intifada or uprising and analysts have been anxiously watching what happens next.

Dozens of protesters were wounded by rubber bullets or live fire in clashes in the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem that followed the main weekly Muslim prayers on Friday. Saturday’s pre-dawn air strike on a base of Hamas’s military wing in Nusseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, was one of several, the Israeli military said.

It followed three rocket attacks Friday night from Gaza into southern Israel. The Hamas health ministry in Gaza said the two dead men were members of its armed wing, which has fought three wars with Israel since 2008.

On Friday night, a rocket hit the southern Israeli city of Sderot although Israeli public radio said it did not explode and did not cause any casualties. Meanwhile, Turkey’s leader is seeking to spearhead Islamic reaction to the US declaration on al-Quds, but it is uncertain if he can coordinate a meaningful response among often disunited Muslim nations.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who regards himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause, had fulminated against President Donald Trump’s recognition of al-Quds as Israel’s capital even before it was officially announced this week.

Erdogan described the status of the city, whose eastern sector Palestinians see as the capital of their future state, as a "red line" for Muslims. With Trump disregarding such warnings, the Turkish president used his position as the current chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to call a summit of the pan-Islamic group.

"He is seeking to garner an international response," said Ziya Meral, resident fellow at the British Army’s Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research, noting Erdogan had spoken to Muslim allies and non-Islamic leaders.

"What Turkey can do tangibly next is far from clear and responses have risks for Erdogan and Turkey," he told AFP. Turkey in 2016 agreed to resume full diplomatic relations with Israel after the crisis triggered by the deadly storming by Israel of a Turkish ship seeking to break the Gaza blockade in 2010.

Cooperation has resumed, most significantly in energy. But Erdogan has rarely mustered much public enthusiasm for ties with Israel and retains warm relations with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that controls Gaza.

Erdogan’s supporters proudly recall how he famously walked out of a January 2009 debate in Davos with then Israeli president Shimon Peres, complaining he was not given enough time to respond and repeatedly saying "one minute!".

The Turkish leader has left diplomatic niceties aside in warning his US counterpart of the dangers of the move, using the backyard-style rhetoric he usually keeps for bitter enemies. "Hey Trump! What do you want to do?" Erdogan said n Thursday. "What kind of approach is this? Political leaders do not stir things up, they seek to make peace!"

Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it was unclear if Erdogan’s strong reaction would have any impact on Trump. "What is clear is that the al-Quds issue will inevitably exacerbate the malaise in the US-Turkish relationship, which was already under considerable strain."

Trump’s arrival as US leader was welcomed by Ankara but relations have hit new trouble due to rows over the Syria conflict, an explosive legal case in New York and even a mutual visa suspension.

Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) shares an "ideological affinity" with Hamas. This suggests "Erdogan can never be an honest broker on the Israeli-Palestinian issue," he said.