Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales (C-L) and his wife Hilda Patricia Marroquin (L) pose for a group photo with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C-R) and his wife Sara (R) ahead of the dedication ceremony of Guatemala's embassy in Jerusalem on May 16, 2018. (AFP photo)

JERUSALEM, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Guatemala inaugurated its new embassy in Jerusalem on Wednesday, two days after the U.S. opened its embassy in the disputed holy city.

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut a blue-and-white ribbon as the official opening of the embassy.

Morales said Israel and Guatemala have a "deep friendship," hoping that other countries will follow the same move.

Netanyahu hailed the opening of Guatemala's embassy in Jerusalem as "the beginning of something extraordinary" in the relationship between the two countries.

The opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on Monday triggered deadly clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces in Gaza and the West Bank.