Jerusalem Largely Peaceful as Region Protests Trump Move

JERUSALEM — Palestinian protesters headed in their hundreds for the Gaza border after Friday Prayer to confront Israeli soldiers, and clashed at military checkpoints across the West Bank. In Amman, Jordan, demonstrators held large posters of President Trump bearing the words “Go to hell.” Muslims rallied from Beirut, Lebanon, to Tehran.

In Gaza, Palestinian health officials reported one death and more than 30 injuries by midafternoon from Israeli fire along the border. In the West Bank, more than 20 protesters were said to have been wounded, mostly by rubber-tipped bullets.

But the enormous outburst of violence that had been feared after Mr. Trump’s decision to formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel did not immediately materialize. In the holy city itself, the main Friday Prayer at Al Aqsa Mosque was held without incident, according to the Israeli police, and the crowds that gathered afterward dispersed largely peacefully. Three Palestinians were arrested at the Damascus Gate entrance to the Old City after scuffling with the police, Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said.

One possible reason for relative calm in the city at the center of the storm was that the Israeli police did not try to bar young Palestinian men from attending the noon prayer at Al Aqsa Mosque, something it had done during previous tense periods. Limiting entry to the revered mosque compound has further inflamed passions in the past.

The police said they had not imposed age restrictions because they had seen no indications that the prayer in Jerusalem would turn violent.

Palestinians also protested and clashed with Israeli forces in East Jerusalem, in Palestinian cities across the West Bank and along the Gaza border on Thursday, a day after Mr. Trump’s announcement. Again, the popular reaction was less intense than had initially been feared.

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that dominates Gaza, demanded a “day of rage” on Friday, calling on Palestinians to confront Israeli forces wherever they could, and for the start of a new intifada, or popular uprising.

The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas and dominated by the mainstream Fatah party, is a bitter rival of Hamas but is trying for reconciliation after a decade-long schism. Mr. Abbas has repeatedly stated that he does not want a third intifada to break out on his watch, underscoring the abiding internal division.

Another factor might have added to the tensions: Palestinians are marking the 30th anniversary this month of the start of the first intifada, an uprising against Israeli occupation that began in Gaza, quickly spread to the West Bank and led to hundreds of deaths, most of them of Palestinians.

In a statement on Friday, Hamas cited the intifada, which the Palestinians fought mostly with stones and firebombs, calling it “our proud revolution,” one among a string of past and future uprisings. The second intifada, which broke out in 2000, was marked by deadly suicide bombings.

Referring to Mr. Trump’s decision, the Hamas statement added, “Any attempt to falsify reality and history will not succeed.”

Mr. Trump’s declaration, which was widely condemned internationally — the status of the entire city has traditionally been left as a matter for peace negotiations — has also stirred emotions and garnered furious responses from leaders throughout the Arab and Muslim world.

In Beirut, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the militant organization Hezbollah, called on Thursday for Arabs and Muslims to respond any way they could. If Palestinians decided to start another intifada, he said, everyone should back them with the means at their disposal, whether that meant weapons, money or moral support.

Thousands rallied in Beirut and residents of Palestinian refugee camps were bused in to join the protest. “I’ve only ever seen Jerusalem in pictures,” said Abdullah Mustafa, a teenager from a refugee family. “But it’s my life.”

In Cairo, a preacher at Al Azhar Mosque, an ancient bastion of Sunni Muslim scholarship, railed against what he termed Mr. Trump’s “illegal” decision, which he likened to attacks on Christian churches by the Islamic State militant group. As prayers ended, congregants stood up chanting “We sacrifice our souls and blood for you, Aqsa,” in reference to the mosque revered as the third-holiest site in Islam.

In Tehran, state-backed rallies were held after Friday Prayer. The hard-line imam Ahmad Khatami said during his sermon that “all the world is protesting Trump’s decision,” adding: “Some of the statesmen in America believe he has a mental problem and must receive treatment from doctors.”

“We have missiles with a range of 1,500 kilometers,” Mr. Khatami continued, citing a distance of roughly 930 miles, which could make Israel a possible target. “We can use those to cause insomnia for the residents of the White House.”

Worshipers, participating in a controlled rally, chanted slogans like “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” After the sermon, a protest was organized at the Iranian capital’s Grand Mosque. Thousands of people waved placards saying “We will stand till Israel has disappeared.”

In a city of 12 million inhabitants, however, a great many stayed home.

“This is a stupid decision by Trump and the start of the collapse of the Zionist regime,” said Ali Mokarrami, 65, a retired teacher. “This is the beginning of the end.”

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, predicted last year that the state of Israel would not exist in 25 years.