Israeli right-wingers hold 'flag march' in East Jerusalem amid tension

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli right-wing groups organized a provocative flag march in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday to mark Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967.

According to eyewitnesses, the march reached the Damascus Gate, a main entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City, with right-wing settlers gathering provocatively in the city’s Muslim Quarter.

Israeli right-wingers attacked Palestinian residents in Jerusalem’s Old City during the march, witnesses said.

Right-wing Transportation Minister Miri Regev from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party took part in the march. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Wednesday he will participate in the march.

Participants in the march typically wave Israeli flags and chant racist slogans against Arabs, such as “Death to Arabs” and “Burn their village.”

Israeli police deployed 3,000 officers in East Jerusalem ahead of the march and cleared Palestinian residents from Damascus Gate.

Palestinians hold firm to East Jerusalem as the capital of their hoped-for state, citing international resolutions that do not recognize Israel's occupation of the city in 1967 or its annexation in 1981.

Tensions have been running high across the West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip after an attack by the Hamas group on Oct. 7, 2023.

At least 527 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,000 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

Israel stands accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio