Thousands of Israelis on Sunday started the annual nationalist “flag march” through Jerusalem that regularly stokes Palestinian anger, a year after tensions in the disputed Holy City exploded into war.
Some 2,000 police were deployed for the event that marks Israel’s 1967 capture of east Jerusalem, home of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound located on what Jews revere as the Temple Mount.
Across annexed east Jerusalem, many Palestinian flags flew from rooftops ahead of the “Jerusalem Day” march, which began at 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) in west Jerusalem, with participants heading towards the Old City.
Isolated clashes also broke out at the Old City’s Damascus Gate where dozens of Jewish nationalists danced in front of Palestinians, one of whom raised his shoe in an Arab insult.
Police reported more than 20 arrests over “disorderly conduct”.
Members of Israeli security scuffle with a Palestinian protester in Jerusalem’s Old City, on May 29, 2022 / © AFP
The march comes a year after tensions and unrest in Jerusalem led the Islamist armed group Hamas to fire rockets at Israel from the blockaded Gaza Strip, triggering an 11-day war.
Hamas warned last week that marchers must not pass through the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, saying it would use all means to confront them.
The route of the march has never included Al-Aqsa, a site which Jewish groups are permitted to visit but where they are not allowed to pray.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday the march follow “the regular route” and urged participants to be “respectful”.
– Pro-Israel chants –
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, right, and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid attend a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, on May 29, 2022 / © POOL/AFP
Police said that some 2,600 people had ascended to the compound during Sunday’s regular visitation windows — a figure that is higher than normal and includes tourists.
Some Jews had “violated visitation rules” and several people were detained, police said without providing further details, before the day’s visits concluded.
One group sang pro-Israel chants, including “Yerushalayim rak shelanou” or “Jerusalem belongs to us only”.
Far-right nationalist lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir, who was among those who went to Al-Aqsa, later said his visit aimed “to reaffirm that we, the State of Israel, are sovereign” in the Holy City.
Most of the international community does not recognise Israeli control over east Jerusalem, which Palestinians see as the capital of a future state.
Members of Israeli security accompany Israelis lifting their national flag in Jerusalem’s Old City on May 29, 2022 / © AFP
Some participants in Sunday’s march were set to pass through Damascus Gate on their way to the Western Wall, a controversial route for which police force Palestinians businesses to close.
Israel has since April been hit by a series of attacks targeting mostly civilians, and has in turn launched military raids targeting armed groups in the occupied West Bank.
Despite the recent violence, tensions have been more muted in the run-up to Sunday’s rally compared to last year.
– Fear of war –
The Old City of Jerusalem / © AFP
Security analyst Shlomo Mofaz judged that Bennett was betting on the likelihood that for now “Hamas does not have any interest in another war”.
“The main policy of Hamas today is to encourage people inside Israel (to attack), while they continue to reconstruct the Gaza Strip,” said the former intelligence officer.
Some observers believe unrest could be fuelled by fallout from the killing last week in Tehran of Iranian Revolutionary Guards colonel Sayyad Khodai.
According to The New York Times, Israel has informed the United States that the Jewish state’s operatives were responsible for gunning him down.
Members of Israeli security detain a Palestinian protester at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate / © AFP
Without addressing Khodai’s killing, Bennett said that “the era of the Iranian regime’s immunity is over … Whoever arms terrorists … will pay the full price”.
Iran backs Hamas, and Mofaz argued that Tehran may “encourage” Palestinian armed factions to launch rockets at Israel.
Gaza resident Mohamed Al Moughrabi, 20, said that although fear of a new war was high, he expected that “the situation will not be like last year”.
