| Gali Tibbon/AFP/Getty Images Paraguay opens embassy in Jerusalem, after U.S. and Guatemala

JERUSALEM — Paraguay opened its new embassy in Jerusalem on Monday, following in the footsteps of the United States and Guatemala. Horacio Cartes and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the decision to move the embassy from Tel Aviv, a week after 60 Palestinians were killed by Israel in protests against the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem. The South American nation of some seven million people follows in the footsteps of the United States, which broke with decades of international consensus when President Donald Trump declared Jerusalem Israel’s capital in December. The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest obstacles to forging a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, who with broad international backing want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as their capital. The US embassy opening was accompanied by mass protests and clashes along the Gaza border that saw 62 Palestinians killed by Israeli gunfire. The entrance to Jerusalem was lined with the flags of Paraguay on Wednesday and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the ceremony that he was there to "salute" a great friend. The opening of the embassy was “a great day for Israel, a great day for Paraguay, a great day for our friendship,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Paraguay opens its embassy in Jerusalem, making Paraguay the third country, after the United States and Guatemala, to transfer its diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.