Donald Trump has sparked fear and anger as he declares Jerusalem the capital of Israel and arranges for the US embassy to be moved from Tel Aviv. This move may have killed off any chance of peace between Israel and Palestine.

Has Trump killed any chance of peace in the Middle East?

President Donald Trump has signed a decree at the start of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the United States recognises Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

“This was a long time in the making. Should have taken place many decades ago,” Mr Trump said as he signed the presidential proclamation on Monday local time.

Today, it was my great honor to welcome Prime Minister @Netanyahu of Israel back to the @WhiteHouse where I signed a Presidential Proclamation recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Read more: https://t.co/yAAyR2Hxe4 pic.twitter.com/gWp6nwRwsY — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2019

The decree formalised Mr Trump’s statement on March 21 saying it was time for the US “to fully recognise” Israeli sovereignty over the Golan.

Mr Trump said his decision would cement the Jewish state’s ability to defend itself from regional threats should a broad Arab-Israeli peace deal ever be reached.

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He also declared that the relationship between the two nations has “never been stronger”.

Mr Netanyahu heaped praise on Mr Trump and declared that “this is truly an historic day”.

“Israel has never had a better friend than you,” he told the US president.

Israel seized the strategic Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Israel annexed the territory in 1981, though this move is not recognised internationally.

WORLD REACTS

The UN Security Council in a December 1981 resolution called Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights “null and void and without international legal effect” — and the UN says Secretary-General Antonio Guterres adheres to council resolutions.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that Guterres’ position remains unchanged despite Trump’s formal recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Guterres said in a report on recent activities of the UN peacekeeping force on the Golan Heights that he was “gravely concerned” at escalating tension there between Israel and Syria. He circulated the report to the Security Council.

The secretary-general singled out three incidents between Syria and Israel between November 20 and February 11.

Syria has denounced the US move as “blatant aggression” on its sovereignty and territorial integrity, saying the step represented the “highest level of contempt for international legitimacy” and showed that Washington was “the main enemy” of Arabs.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says the US has “ignored international law” by recognising Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Lebanon says the decision undermines any efforts to reach a fair peace and further isolates Israel.

The Golan Heights are “Syrian Arab” territory and “no country can falsify history by transferring” land from one country to another, Lebanon's foreign ministry said.

HAMAS AND ISRAEL EXCHANGE GUNFIRE

Mr Netanyahu arrived in Washington for what was to have been a three-day visit, including a White House dinner.

But shortly after meeting with Mr Trump, Mr Netanyahu had to return to Israel to deal with an unprecedented Gaza rocket attack on Israel.

He cancelled an address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) pro-Israel lobby group and meetings with congressional leaders.

“There has been a criminal attack on the state of Israel and we will respond forcefully,” he said.

Hamas has since said it has reached an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel, only two weeks before Israeli elections.

“Egyptian efforts succeeded with a ceasefire between the occupation and the resistance factions,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.

Israel has yet to comment on the claim.

Gaza militants fired at least 10 rockets toward Israel after an Israeli air strike destroyed the offices of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, as air raid sirens wailed across southern Israel.

Israeli media report at least 10 missiles fired toward the southern Israeli town of Sderot late Monday local time.

The latest escalation of violence began when a rocket fired from Gaza struck a home in central Israel, wounding seven people.

Israel has vowed to respond “forcefully,” raising the prospect of a fourth war between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers.

Vice President Mike Pence told AIPAC the rocket attack “proves that Hamas is not a partner for peace” and that “Hamas is a terrorist organisation that seeks the destruction of Israel, and the United States will never negotiate with terrorist Hamas.”

The Israeli military said its Iron Dome rocket-defence system was not activated because the attack in central Israel had not been anticipated.

The army added it was reinforcing its missile defence batteries in preparation for an escalation.

Major Mika Lifshitz, a military spokeswoman, said it was a self-manufactured rocket with a range of 120km, making it one of the deepest rocket strikes ever carried out by Hamas.

The attack prompted the military to deploy troops along Israel’s southern border.

After Mr Netanyahu promised a tough response, Gaza’s Hamas leaders went into hiding setting the stage for a possible major conflagration.

The early-morning rocket strike came at a sensitive time for both sides.

Mr Netanyahu, locked in a tight race for re-election, came under heavy criticism from his rivals on Monday and faced tough pressure to strike back at Hamas.

Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations are trying to broker a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas but that effort has yet to bring an agreement.

At the same time, there has been an uptick in violence in the West Bank over the past week, with a stabbing and shooting that left two Israelis dead near a West Bank settlement and Israel’s killing of two Palestinians it said attacked troops.