Deadly clashes have erupted on the Gaza-Israel border as the new US embassy is set to open in Jerusalem.
At the time of publication, the Gazan health ministry said 37 Palestinians - including a 14-year-old - were killed in the protests.
It was the deadliest day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since a 2014 war between the Jewish state and Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas.
Palestinians protest over the inauguration of the US embassy. Source: Getty
The major clashes broke out across the border between Israeli snipers and stone-throwing Palestinians seeking to damage the fence.
Thousands of others were protesting near the border. The health ministry said 500 Palestinians were wounded.
Palestinian protesters evacuate a wounded youth. Source: AAP
Larger crowds were expected to gather later on Monday to protest the move of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem.
The embassy inauguration is due to occur at 4pm local time.
Fifty-four Palestinians were previously killed by Israeli fire since protests and clashes began along the Gaza border on March 30.
Palestinian demonstrators burn tyres near the Gaza-Israel border. Source: Getty
President Donald Trump decided to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem - tossing aside decades of precedent - after months of global outcry, Palestinian anger and exuberant praise from Israelis.
In the hours before the opening, Mr Trump tweeted it was "A great day for Israel!"
In the fallout of the protests, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the US had lost its role as mediator in the Middle East.
"With its latest step America has chosen to be a part of the problem, not a solution, and lost its mediator role in the Middle East peace process", he said.
Palestinian protesters on May 14. Source: Getty
US officials insisted on Sunday that they could still push forward the troubled Israeli-Palestinian peace process despite outrage across the Arab world over the opening of the new embassy.
Speaking on the eve of the embassy's opening, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was hopeful of success in efforts to end the decades-old conflict, while National Security Advisor John Bolton said it should make peace "easier".
President Trump's decision to move the embassy from Tel Aviv broke with generations of international consensus that Jerusalem's status should be settled as part of a two-state peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority's leadership has effectively refused to speak to President Trump's team since the move was announced, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is supposed to be spearheading a new drive for peace.
Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation's delegation in Washington described the move as another step toward "a full-fledged apartheid."
"Tragically, the US administration has chosen to side with Israel's exclusivist claims over a city that has for centuries been sacred to all faiths," he said in a statement. "Today's move of the US embassy gives life to a religious conflict instead of a dignified peace."
Asked in an interview with Fox News Sunday about whether there was any life left in the peace process, Mr Pompeo responded by saying "the peace process is most decidedly not dead."
Ivanka Trump (C) and her husband Jared Kushner (L) attend a reception ceremony for the US delegation ahead of the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem Source: AAP
"We're hard at work on it. We hope we can achieve a successful outcome there as well," said Mr Pompeo whose first two weeks in office have been largely consumed with arranging a summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
As well as the protests by the Palestinians, demonstrations are expected on Monday in other Arab capitals where governments have argued that the status of Jerusalem should only form part of a final peace agreement.
Mr Pompeo said he was aware that there could be security concerns for US embassies and citizens in the region in the coming days.
"The United States government has taken a number of actions to ensure that not only our governmental interests but the American people in that region are secure as well, and we're comfortable we've taken action that reduces that risk," said the top US diplomat.
'Recognising reality'
Mr Bolton meanwhile said the opening of the embassy in a city which the Palestinians also want to make the capital of their promised future state would actually enhance the prospects of peace.
"I think it will make it easier. It's a recognition of reality," he told ABC's "This Week" in the US.
"If you're not prepared to recognise that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and that's where the American embassy should be, then you're operating on a completely different wavelength.
"I think recognising reality always enhances the chances for peace."
Washington's ambassador to Israel also said that there is still hope for peace in the region.
Acknowledging the Palestinian anger, David Friedman told Fox that the mood "will change over time because they will understand that the United States continues to extend its hand in peace and people need to focus on what's important, the quality of life, more infrastructure, more security, better hospitals."
Mr Friedman in the past has been a supporter of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation has decried Washington's embassy move as a "provocation to all Arabs," and the opening falls on May 14 which this year marks 70 years since Israel's declaration of independence - which Palestinians call Naqba, their "day of catastrophe."
