Ramallah, December 13 (RHC)-- Israeli forces have clashed with Palestinians protesting against the new U.S. policy on Jerusalem in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.  The Palestinians carrying national flags took to the Bethlehem streets on Wednesday, for the seventh consecutive day since U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the "capital" of Israel. 

The Israeli forces used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.  Latest reports say some 40 Palestinians, among them officials from the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, were detained by Israeli forces during raids on the West Bank cities over the past few hours. 

On December 6th, Trump declared that Washington was recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and that he had instructed his administration to begin the process of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the Holy City. 

The decision sparked a wave of global condemnations, demonstrations and warnings of further conflagration in the Middle East. 

The entire Jerusalem is currently under Israel’s control, while the regime also claims the city’s eastern part, which hosts the third holiest Muslim site.  The city has been designated as “occupied” under international law since the 1967 Arab War, which Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.