Huge Trump murals appear on West Bank barrier

In one scene, Trump is shown hugging and kissing a real Israeli army watchtower built into the wall, as his left arm reaches around the tower. Little pink hearts flutter from Trump's mouth.

A mural resembling the work of elusive artist Banksy depicting President Donald Trump wearing a Jewish skullcap, is seen on Israel's West Bank separation barrier in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Friday, Aug. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
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Two murals showing an oversized President Donald Trump have appeared on Israel's West Bank separation barrier, just yards from where the elusive artist Banksy decorated a hotel earlier this year.

The new drawings popped up on the edge of Bethlehem, the Palestinian city where the barrier largely consists of a wall of towering slabs of concrete.

In one scene, Trump is shown hugging and kissing a real Israeli army watchtower built into the wall, as his left arm reaches around the tower. Little pink hearts flutter from Trump's mouth.

In another drawing, Trump is depicted wearing a Jewish skullcap and placing a hand a wall — a scene taken from the US president's May visit to Jerusalem's Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray. A cartoon "thought bubble" next to him says, "I'm going to build you a brother," a possible reference to Trump's plans to build a wall between the US and Mexico.

The murals were signed "lushsux" — a signature that according to a 2016 report by the Australian newspaper The Age has been used in the past by a Melbourne street artist. The artist was among those who participated in a Banksy show in Britain in 2015, the report said.

A Twitter account in the name "lushsux" published the mural of Trump with his hand on a wall on Monday.

The new graffiti is just a few metres from The Walled Off Hotel, a Palestinian-run guest house that opened earlier this year and bills itself as having the "worst view in the world."

The nine-room hotel was decorated with Banksy's trademark political murals, including one in "Banksy's Room" that shows a masked Palestinian and a helmeted Israeli soldier in a pillow fight.