Tens of thousands of Israelis, predominantly religious youths wearing white shirts and waving Israeli flags, marched through Jerusalem’s Old City on Thursday to celebrate the anniversary of Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War.
More than 3,000 police were deployed on Jerusalem Day in a massive security operation to protect the flag march, considered by Palestinians as a provocation.
A few isolated clashes were reported between some marchers and Palestinian residents and journalists were also attacked, but there were no major incidents of unrest. Anti-Arab racist chants were also directed at Old City Palestinians. Many store owners in the Old City opted to close their shops for the day.
Far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir spoke to supporters at the start of the march. “There are tens of thousands of people here, thank God,” he said. “Jerusalem is ours forever.”
In a speech to the marchers, energy minister Yisrael Katz from prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party threatened Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, saying that any attempt by him to disrupt the march would result in his assassination by Israel, “just like the fate of his associates in the Islamic Jihad”.
Palestinians view all of east Jerusalem, including the Old City, as the capital of a future Palestinian state and resent the fact that the marchers made their way to the Jewish Western Wall holy site via the narrow alleyways of the Muslim quarter.
Two years ago, Hamas militants in Gaza launched rockets into Israel at the end of the flag march, sparking an 11-day conflict. Tension was particularly high this year following the recent cross-border exchange of fire between Israel and Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza which ended last weekend when the sides agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire.
The day began with hundreds of Jews visiting the flashpoint Temple Mount compound, the site of the two ancient Jewish temples, considered the holiest site in Judaism and revered by Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif noble sanctuary, the site of the Al-Aqsa mosque.
Police escorted groups of Jewish visitors, including right-wing members of the Knesset parliament, to the compound. Under a longstanding status quo arrangement approved Jews are permitted to visit the holy site but not pray there.
Jordan is the custodian of the holy places in Jerusalem and the foreign ministry in Amman on Thursday condemned the visit by the parliamentarians. “We warn about possible escalations amid the provocative march in Jerusalem,” the ministry said in a statement. “Israel has no authority over religious sites in Jerusalem and east Jerusalem which is occupied Palestinian territory.”
Egypt also condemned the flag march and the visits to the al-Aqsa compound as “provocations against the Palestinians and an irresponsible escalation that fuels tensions.
