Palestinians knock UNGA

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) will hold an emergency meeting after the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution rejecting the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The request for the General Assembly meeting was put forth by a bloc of Arab nations, Turkey and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which bills itself as "the collective voice of the Muslim world".

Amid the uproar, US Vice President Mike Pence has delayed a visit to the Middle East, the White House said Monday, as a crunch tax vote on Capitol Hill looms and anger in the region over Washington's policy shift on Jerusalem persists.

Officials denied that Pence's decision was motivated by a wave of deadly protests in the wake of Trump's controversial decision to declare Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Aside from the protests, Palestinian, Muslim and Coptic leaders had cancelled meetings with the vice president, who had already trimmed the trip by three days.

US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on December 6, reversing decades of US foreign policy and upsetting the Arab world and its Western allies.

The president of the General Assembly, Miroslav Lajcak, said that the emergency session will be conducted as soon as possible, while the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, expected it to be held today or tomorrow.

Mansour said the request stipulated that the session be held in accordance with the principle of "Uniting for Peace", in reference to General Assembly 1950 Resolution 377A.

According to the resolution, the General Assembly will take it upon itself to consider matters further if the Security Council fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

"The resolution can be passed by getting at least two-thirds of the votes of the members of the UN General Assembly," a Turkish foreign ministry source, who wished to remain anonymous, told Al Jazeera.

International law considers occupied East Jerusalem to be the capital for a future Palestine state, and does not recognise Israel's annexation of the territory, which it captured in the 1967 Six Day War.

And UN's human rights chief yesterday said he was "truly shocked" by Israeli troops' killing of a wheelchair-bound Palestinian protester in Gaza, and demanded an "independent and impartial investigation".

Ibrahim Abu Thurayeh, a 29-year-old who lost his legs after an Israeli attack a decade ago, was among five Palestinians killed on Friday during protests against Trump's decision. Hundreds were injured.