Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his rivals from the Hamas will both attend a Muslim leaders’ summit on Jerusalem today, organised by the Turkish government in Istanbul.
Abbas’ office confirmed the information yesterday.
Separately, Hamas confirmed a number of its leaders, including Khaled Meshaal, will come to the summit, meant to consider last week’s US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is calling the summit under the auspices of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a body that has long been seen as largely ineffectual and fractured.
A number of key Arab states have not confirmed their attendance, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
The United Arab Emirates is only sending a deputy foreign minister.
From further afield, the presidents of Iran, Indonesia and Somalia plan to come. King Abdullah of Jordan, who is the formal custodian of Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, is also expected.
Erdogan has been particularly vocally critical of US President Donald Trump’s announcement last week, threatening to cut ties with Israel because of the move and calling it a “red line” for Muslims.
He has said the US decision makes it a partner in regional bloodshed.
In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip yesterday two Palestinian fighters died in an explosion, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
The Israeli army said it did not carry out an attack in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday. A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip aimed at Israel came down short of its target in the northern part of the Palestinian territory later yesterday.
The rocket did not reach Israeli airspace, a spokeswoman for the Israeli army said yesterday evening.
The rocket exploded in a field, Palestinian media reported. There were no reports of injuries and no group has so far claimed the attack.
In the West Bank, near the Ariel settlement, the Israeli army shot a Palestinian after he “appeared to pull a knife out of his pocket.”
The Palestinian was evacuated to an Israeli hospital, the army said.
A new poll indicates that Palestinian support for armed conflict remains high, but it was nearly unchanged following the Jerusalem move.
According to the survey conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, 44% of Palestinians — 41% in the West Bank and 47% in Gaza — say that “armed resistance” is the most effective means of establishing a Palestinian state next to Israel.
A survey conducted in September by the same institute showed that 45% of Palestinians supported an armed uprising.
While support for violent actions draws the largest percentage, a cumulative total of 51% of respondents supported either negotiations or non-violent resistance.
Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of 91% of those surveyed viewed Trump’s Jerusalem declaration as threat to Palestinian interests.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Istanbul, yesterday.
