Jerusalem’s largest soccer club announced Sunday that it has changed its name to “Beitar Trump Jerusalem,” in honor of the US president’s recognition of Israel’s capital and moving his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv. 
 
 In an announcement on Facebook, the team praised the US president. 
 
 “For 70 years has Jerusalem been awaiting international recognition, until President Donald Trump, in a courageous move, recognized Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel,” the club wrote. “President Trump has shown courage, and true love of the Israeli people and their capital, and these days other countries are following his lead in giving Jerusalem its rightful status.” 
 
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 The announcement comes the day before the official opening of the new embassy in Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood, in a ceremony to be attended by US Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan, Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, Adviser Ivanka Trump, and Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt, as well as ambassadors and officials from all over the world. 
 
 70 שנה המתינה ירושלים להכרה בינלאומית, עד שהנשיא דונלד טראמפ החליט לעשות מעשה והכיר בה כבירת הנצח של עם ישראל. הנשיא… Posted by ‎מועדון הכדורגל בית"ר ירושלים – F.C. Beitar Jerusalem‎ on Sunday, 13 May 2018 
 
 The soccer club stated that it was permanently changing its name in honor of the occasion. 
 
 “Beitar Jerusalem, one of the most prominent symbols of the city, are happy to honor the president for his love and support with a gesture of our own,” the Facebook post read. “The chairmen of the club, the owner Eli Tabib and the executive manager Eli Ohana have decided to add to the club’s title the name of the American President who made history, and from now on will be called Beitar Trump Jerusalem.” 
 
 Beitar, one of Israel’s top soccer clubs, is currently in second place in the premier league. 
 
 However, the club has a long history of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment, and is the only club in the Israeli league that has never had an Arab Muslim player. Officials on the team have indicated in the past that it is unofficial policy. 
 
 Earlier this year, the club promised to crackdown on racist fans. It also said it would close down the eastern section of its ground which is infamous for housing the club’s most rabid fans, including the ultra-nationalist “La-Familia” faction. Last year, 19 members of the group were charged with attempted murder, including of rival supporters. ||||| Palestinian protesters burn tires during a protest on the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Monday, May 14, 2018. Thousands of Palestinians are protesting near Gaza's border with Israel, as Israel prepared... (Associated Press) 
 
 Palestinian protesters burn tires during a protest on the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, Monday, May 14, 2018. Thousands of Palestinians are protesting near Gaza's border with Israel, as Israel prepared for the festive inauguration of a new U.S. Embassy in contested Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) (Associated Press) 
 
 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Thousands of Palestinian protesters converged along the border with Israel on Monday, drawing Israeli fire that killed at least 16 people in the bloodiest day of weeks of demonstrations and casting a cloud over Israel's festive inauguration of the new U.S. Embassy in contested Jerusalem. 
 
 With their anger fueled by the embassy opening, protesters set tires on fire, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air at several spots along the border, while the Israeli military said protesters assaulted the border fence. By midafternoon, at least 16 Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed while over 500 were wounded by Israeli fire, Palestinian health officials said. 
 
 In the West Bank, several thousand people gathered in the center of Ramallah, while hundreds marched to the Qalandiya crossing on the outskirts of Jerusalem, where protesters threw stones at Israeli troops. 
 
 The protest in Gaza was to be the biggest yet in a weekslong campaign against a decade-old blockade of the territory. The march was also directed at the inauguration of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem later Monday. The relocation of the embassy from Tel Aviv, a key campaign promise of President Donald Trump, has infuriated the Palestinians, who seek east Jerusalem as a future capital. 
 
 "A great day for Israel," Trump tweeted early Monday. 
 
 Monday marked the biggest showdown in recent weeks between Israel's military and Gaza's Hamas rulers along the volatile border. 
 
 It is the culmination of a campaign, led by the Islamic militant Hamas and fueled by despair among Gaza's 2 million people, to break the decade-old border blockade of the territory by Israel and Egypt. Since weekly border marches began in late March, 58 Palestinian protesters have been killed and more than 2,300 wounded by Israeli army fire. 
 
 Hamas leaders have suggested a border breach is possible Monday, while Israel has warned it would prevent protesters from breaking through the barrier at any cost. 
 
 Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said the army had bolstered its front-line forces along the border, but also set up additional "layers" of security in and around neighboring communities to defend Israeli civilians in case of a mass breach. He said there already had been several "significant attempts" to break through the fence. 
 
 "Even if the fence is breached, we will be able to protect Israeli civilians from attempts to massacre or kidnap or kill them," he said. 
 
 The timing of Monday's events was deeply symbolic, both to Israel and the Palestinians. 
 
 The U.S. said it chose the date to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel's establishment. 
 
 But it also marks the anniversary of what Palestinians call their "nakba," or catastrophe, a reference to the uprooting of hundreds of thousands who fled or were expelled from what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's independence. 
 
 A majority of Gaza's 2 million people are descendants of refugees, and the protests have been billed as the "Great March of Return" to long-lost homes in what is now Israel. 
 
 In one of the border areas east of Gaza City, Mohammed Hamami, a 40-year-old civil servant, joined a crowd of hundreds of protesters, along with his mother and five children. 
 
 "Today we are here to send a message to Israel and its allies that we will never give up on our land," he said. 
 
 "We will cross the border and impose new realities like the reality Trump imposed in Jerusalem," he added, referring to President Donald Trump's decision in December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and then move the U.S. Embassy there. 
 
 Some protesters moved to within about 150 meters (yards) of the border fence. A reporter saw two men who tried to advance further being shot in the legs by Israeli troops. 
 
 Clouds of black smoke from burning tires rose into the air. Earlier Monday, Israeli drones dropping incendiary material had pre-emptively set ablaze some of the tires collected in advance by activists. 
 
 Protesters have used the thick smoke as cover against Israeli snipers perched on high sand berms on the other side of the border. The army accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to plan or carry out attacks. 
 
 Leaflets dropped over Gaza by army jets warned that those approaching the border "jeopardize" their lives. The warning said the army is "prepared to face all scenarios and will act against every attempt to damage the security fence or harm IDF soldiers or Israeli civilians." 
 
 In Jerusalem, top Trump administration officials attended events linked to the inauguration of the embassy later Monday. 
 
 Speaking at a celebration hosted by the Orthodox Union, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that it was a U.S. "national security priority" to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. 
 
 Trump's decision to go forward with a campaign promise to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was welcomed by Israel and condemned by the Palestinians. Previous presidents had signed a waiver postponing the move, citing national security. 
 
 Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community. The Palestinians seek the city's eastern half as the capital of a future state. 
 
 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cut ties with the Trump administration and declared it unfit to remain in its role as the sole mediator in peace talks. 
 
 Saeb Erekat, a senior Abbas aide, blasted the Trump administration Monday, saying Trump had violated a promise to hold off on moving the embassy to give peace talks a chance and that his administration is "based on lies." 
 
 Erekat said the Trump administration has "become part of the problem, not part of the solution." 
 
 Administration officials have dismissed Palestinian criticism, portraying the embassy opening as an essential step toward an eventual Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. However, they have not said how they will move forward without the Palestinians. 
 
 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump's "bold decision" in upending decades of U.S. policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. "It's the right thing to do," a smiling Netanyahu told the jubilant crowd at a reception in Jerusalem late Sunday. 
 
 Although Trump has said his declaration does not set the final borders of the city, his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital has been perceived by both Israel and the Palestinians as taking Israel's side in the most sensitive issue in their conflict. 
 
 Only two countries, Guatemala and Paraguay, have said they will follow suit. Most of the world maintains embassies in Tel Aviv, saying the Jerusalem issue must first be resolved. 
 
 In a reflection of the deep sensitivities, dozens of countries — including Britain, France and Germany — skipped a celebration Sunday night at the Israeli Foreign Ministry. 
 
 Monday's opening will be attended by Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who both serve as White House advisers. Kushner leads the Trump Mideast team. 
 
 __ 
 
 Ben Zion reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, and Karin Laub in Amman, Jordan contributed to this report. ||||| Tweet with a location 
 
 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Israeli forces killed 58 Palestinians at the boundary fence with Gaza on Monday, local health officials said, a level of bloodshed not seen since the most violent days of Israel’s 2014 war in the territory. 
 
 The death toll more than doubled the number of Palestinians killed during six weeks of demonstrations, dubbed the “March of Return,” and came on the same day that a new U.S. Embassy opened in Jerusalem. 
 
 Tens of thousands of Palestinians had gathered on the edges of the fenced-off and blockaded territory from midmorning. Many came to peacefully demonstrate, bringing their children and carrying flags. Food stalls sold snacks and music blared. 
 
 But the protests appeared to have a more violent edge than in previous weeks. Some young men brought knives and fence cutters. At a gathering point east of Gaza City, organizers urged protesters over loudspeakers to burst through the fence, telling them Israeli soldiers were fleeing their positions, even as they were reinforcing them. 
 
 Israeli snipers were determined not to allow a breach, and ambulances soon began screaming back and forth from the fence as gunshots rang out. No Israeli soldiers were injured, though, and Israel drew widespread condemnation for an excessive use of force. 
 
 More than 2,700 people were injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, including 1,359 from live ammunition. The dead included six children under the age of 18, among them a 15-year-old girl, and a medic, the ministry said. 
 
 1 of 30 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Gaza protests turn deadly as U.S. Embassy opens in Jerusalem View Photos Israeli soldiers killed dozens of Palestinians demonstrating along the border fence and wounded more than 1,600 in the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 war with Israel. Caption Israeli soldiers killed dozens of Palestinians demonstrating along the border fence and wounded more than 1,600 in the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 war with Israel. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 The United Nations said that “those responsible for outrageous human rights violations must be held to account,” and Human Rights Watch described the killings as a “bloodbath.” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned a continuing “massacre” of the Palestinian people. Turkey and South Africa announced they were recalling their ambassadors from Israel. 
 
 The Trump administration, however, blamed Hamas for the loss of life. “The responsibility for these tragic deaths rests squarely with Hamas,” deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah told reporters at a briefing. “Israel has the right to defend itself.” 
 
 The violence was a jarring contrast with the opening ceremony for the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, which drew first daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Trump adviser Jared Kushner. 
 
 In Gaza, Hamas has given its backing to the demonstrations, which have galvanized people around a call to protest the loss of Palestinian homes and villages when Israel was formed in 1948. 
 
 Palestinians will mark the anniversary of that day — known as the “Nakba,” or “Catastrophe” — on Tuesday, when more demonstrations are planned. More than two-thirds of Gaza’s population is descended from refugees who were displaced at the time of Israel’s creation. 
 
 At Gaza City’s main al-Shifaa hospital, medics said they were overwhelmed. 
 
 “I don't know how we will manage,” Ayman al-Sahbani, the head of the emergency department, said as families jostled to get in to see injured relatives. “How long can this go on? How long?” 
 
 The hospital had set up an additional 30-bed triage area outside, and earlier in the day said it had the capacity to treat 200 or 300 serious gunshot wounds. It had received around 400 injured by about 6 p.m., most of whom had been shot, he said. 
 
 “We’ve reached the critical point now,” he said. “A lot of people need operations soon, but the operation room is full.” 
 
 
 
 Palestinian women suffering from tear-gas inhalation sit in a medical aid tent during a protest near Beit Lahiya in the Gaza Strip. (Dusan Vranic/AP) 
 
 Increasing economic hardship has fueled frustrations in Gaza, along with wider despair across Palestinian territories amid moves by a U.S. administration seen as wholeheartedly on Israel’s side in the decades-old conflict. 
 
 At least 110 Gazans have been killed over the past six weeks, according to Gaza Health Ministry figures. 
 
 At the demonstrations east of Gaza City, some said the force used by Israel would only bring further unrest. 
 
 Standing a few hundred meters from the fence, Nirma Attalah, 29, said her 22-year-old brother had been killed two weeks ago. “My brother was shot in the head in this place,” she said. She had come on Monday with her whole extended family. “We are here for Jerusalem, for Palestinian land,” she said. 
 
 A truck rolled past carrying young men chanting: “To Jerusalem we go with millions of martyrs” and “Death rather than humiliation.” 
 
 Drones dropped canisters of tear gas, sending crowds fleeing. Other drones dropped leaflets that urged demonstrators to say back from the fence. 
 
 “People have come out of the rubble to say we will not forget our rights,” said Yousef Abu Saleh, 25. “The American administration is adopting the Israeli story and stealing our right of return.” 
 
 While some said they would abide by official calls to keep the demonstrations peaceful, others talked about their enthusiasm to break into Israel and wreak havoc. 
 
 “We are excited to storm and get inside,” said 23-year-old Mohammed Mansoura. When asked what he would do inside Israel, he said, “Whatever is possible, to kill, throw stones.” 
 
 Two other young men carried large knives and said they wanted to kill Jews on the other side of the fence. 
 
 The Israeli military brought two extra brigades to the Gaza border in preparation for the demonstrations and added additional “defense lines” in an effort to prevent any mass invasion into Israeli communities near the border. 
 
 The military said at least 40,000 people protested in 13 places along the fence — more than twice as many locations as in past weeks of protest. 
 
 “Especially violent riots” took place near the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where three people were killed after trying to plant an explosive, the military added. The military also said it would “act forcefully against any terrorist activity,” and it carried out an airstrike on Hamas military posts in northern Gaza after Israeli troops came under fire. 
 
 At demonstrations near the Bureij Camp in central Gaza, Ahmed Loulou, 22, released a cluster of balloons carrying a Palestinian flag. He had written in marker: “We are returning. This is our land.” 
 
 The load was briefly caught in a power line before bobbing unsteadily toward the border. 
 
 Loulou said that it was his first time at the demonstrations and that he had been persuaded to come by friends. 
 
 Meanwhile, young men fired stones from slingshots as they sheltered behind earthen berms. Shortly afterward, the sound of live ammunition zinged through the air over the sound of the afternoon call to prayer. 
 
 “Sniper! Sniper!” shouted a young boy. 
 
 
 
 A Palestinian man throws leaflets dropped Monday by the Israeli military during Monday’s protests along the Israel-Gaza border. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters) 
 
 The vast majority of demonstrators were unarmed, but near a parking area, a man pulled out an AK-47 and took aim at an Israeli drone dropping leaflets. He let off a stream of bullets into the air and brought it down. Later, more gunfire was heard as Palestinian factions argued over who would keep the downed drown, onlookers said. 
 
 As the death toll neared 50, loudspeakers called for protesters to leave the border area. Hamas leader Ismail Haniya was called to Cairo on Sunday night in an apparent attempt to persuade the militant group to quell the demonstrations. No agreement was made, Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nounou said as he attended the protests. “They understood our points. Our people are showing their solidarity with Jerusalem today, and showing their anger with the U.S. administration.” 
 
 Hamas’s Interior Ministry said seven of its members were killed, including a medic from the civil defense, two internal security staff and a military intelligence official. At least 12 journalists were injured, according to the Health Ministry. 
 
 The demonstrations have proved to be a welcome distraction for Hamas, refocusing anger against Israel as frustration built against the group in Gaza. 
 
 At a news conference as evening fell, senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayaa said the protests would continue. 
 
 “This blood will keep boiling until the occupation leaves forever,” he said. 
 
 At a morgue, the blood was washed off the bodies of those killed before they were taken away by waiting relatives. Dressed in a blue Chelsea soccer shirt, Ahmed Jundiya, 20, was waiting for the body of his 20-year-old cousin. 
 
 Jundiya himself hadn’t been at the demonstrations. 
 
 “I wanted to go, but my parents said no,” he said. “You can see the result of participating,” he added, motioning toward the room where his relative lay. 
 
 Anne Gearan in Washington and Sufian Taha in Jerusalem contributed to this report. 
 
 Read more 
 
 Trump’s embassy move has triggered deadly protests. These maps explain why. 
 
 New U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem: A stone plaque and $400,000 in renovations 
 
 Trump’s ‘buy now, pay later’ foreign policy ||||| FILE - In this July 1, 2017, file photo, pastor Robert Jeffress, of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, speaks as he introduces President Donald Trump during the Celebrate Freedom event at the Kennedy... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this July 1, 2017, file photo, pastor Robert Jeffress, of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, speaks as he introduces President Donald Trump during the Celebrate Freedom event at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. In a tweet Sunday, May 13, 2018, Senate candidate Mitt... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this July 1, 2017, file photo, pastor Robert Jeffress, of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, speaks as he introduces President Donald Trump during the Celebrate Freedom event at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. In a tweet Sunday, May 13, 2018, Senate candidate Mitt... (Associated Press) FILE - In this July 1, 2017, file photo, pastor Robert Jeffress, of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, speaks as he introduces President Donald Trump during the Celebrate Freedom event at the Kennedy... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate candidate Mitt Romney of Utah says a prominent Baptist minister shouldn't be giving the prayer that opens the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem because he's a "religious bigot." 
 
 In a tweet Sunday night, the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee criticized Dallas minister Robert Jeffress for his remarks about Jews, Mormons and Islam. 
 
 Romney said, "Robert Jeffress says 'you can't be saved by being a Jew,' and 'Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell.' He's said the same about Islam." 
 
 The liberal group Media Matters reports on its website that Jeffress made the remarks cited by Romney in a 2011 speech at the conservative Values Voter Summit. 
 
 Jeffress responded in a tweet of his own by defending his view that "salvation is through faith in Christ alone." 
 
 "Historic Christianity has taught for 2,000 years that salvation is through faith in Christ alone. The fact that I, along with tens of millions of evangelical Christians around the world, continue to espouse that belief, is neither bigoted nor newsworthy,: Jeffress said in the tweet, 
 
 The role of Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, a Southern Baptist megachurch, underlines the significance of the Jerusalem event as an appeal to Christian conservatives, part of President Donald Trump's base of supporters.
– One of Israel's biggest sports teams has given itself a new name in honor of the opening of the new US Embassy in Jerusalem—and the man who made it possible. Soccer club Beitar Jerusalem says it is now called Beitar Trump Jerusalem and the change will be permanent. "President Trump has shown courage, and true love of the Israeli people and their capital," the team said in a statement. The team, which is in second place in Israel's top soccer league, is notorious for anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment, according to the Times of Israel. In other developments: Deadly violence: Israeli soldiers killed 16 protesters near the Gaza border and injured hundreds more ahead of the opening, say Palestinian health authorities, per the AP. That makes Monday the deadliest day of protests since they began six weeks ago, reports the Washington Post. Mitt Romney speaks out. Romney said Sunday night that a Dallas minister shouldn't deliver the embassy's opening prayer because he is a "religious bigot," the AP reports. "Robert Jeffress says 'you can't be saved by being a Jew,' and 'Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell.' He's said the same about Islam," Romney tweeted. In response, Jeffress said it isn't bigoted to teach that "salvation is through faith in Christ alone."