Two days after the U.S. completed its controversial decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, it has been followed by Guatemala. The Central American country was lauded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a ceremony on Wednesday, where Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales attended.

Netanyahu said that it was fitting that Guatemala, which was the second country to recognize the state of Israel in 1948, became the second to transfer its embassy to the seat of much of the Israeli government, a move that has inflamed tensions in the country's conflict with Palestinians.

At least 60 Palestinians at a demonstration, who Israel says were terrorists, were killed by Israel forces at the border with the blockaded Gaza Strip, which has drawn international criticism.

Those deaths came as American officials including Vice President Mike Pence, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner lauded the reinauguration of the U.S. diplomatic post in Jerusalem, which has until this point been a consulate.

The diplomatic fallout between Israel and Turkey, a power player in the region who expelled Israel's ambassador after the violence, as Ankara sent the envoy packing and press filmed him getting frisked at the airport.

Aliqismet BADALOV,
“Khalq qazeti”