The situation seemed tense on Sunday morning in Jerusalem’s Old City, as security forces actively deployed to various locations in East Jerusalem hours before the “flag march” that the Israelis organize annually to commemorate the occupation of the eastern part of the city. which raises fears of a new escalation.
Far-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir visited the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, where a large group of Jews were also seen singing about Israel.
Jews are allowed to enter the Al-Aqsa courtyard, but they are forbidden to pray there. However, a growing number of Jews are secretly heading into the courtyard to pray, sparking tension and Palestinian condemnation of the intention to “Judaize” the holy site, considered “the first of two qiblas and the third of two holy places.” Mosques” for Muslims. The Jews call this place “Temple Mount” and it is the holiest place in the Jewish religion.
And Itamar Ben-Gvir said from the courtyard that he had come to “reaffirm that we, the State of Israel, are sovereign” in the city and “support the security forces,” hoping to “clean up the Temple Mount.” The Israeli police announced that “a small group of rioters barricaded themselves inside the mosque (Qibli) and threw large stones at the Israeli police”, adding that they “acted on the spot”, without further details.
In the Muslim quarter of the Old City, most of the merchants closed their doors, and the residents did not go out. An AFP journalist saw young Israelis chanting, singing and dancing while waving Israeli flags.
“Do you see anyone?” a store owner in the Samin neighborhood told AFP. “The stores are not closed because we’re afraid, but the customers won’t come today… We’re not afraid of these settlers, but the Israeli army, police and government.”
Israeli police said they sent 3,000 people to escort the Quds Day march, which will begin at 1600 local time (1300 GMT).
The march is held annually on Quds Day, when Israel commemorates the “unification of Jerusalem” and its occupation of the eastern part of it during the 1967 war, which it later annexed, which was not recognized by the international community.
Last year, after weeks of tension and confrontation in Jerusalem, on the day of the march, Hamas fired rockets at Israel, to which it responded with a massive military operation in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. During the 11 days of the escalation, 260 Palestinians, including militants, and 66 children were killed. This killed 14 people, including a child, a teenage girl and a soldier from the Israeli side.
And Palestinian groups this year again warned against “storming the Al-Aqsa mosque” by marchers and declared “universal vigilance.”
And usually Jewish nationalists participate in the procession with flags. She called on the factions to “take to the streets, hoist the Palestinian flag, and engage in open confrontation with the enemy at points of contact.”
According to what an AFP correspondent observed, in the vicinity of East Jerusalem, Palestinians raised the Palestinian flag on the roofs of their houses. On Sunday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem felt the flag march was “a real and serious provocation to our people… and a rigging of the detonators that previously ignited the Jerusalem Sword Battle” in reference to the recent war in Gaza. . The marchers are expected to enter the Old City via Bab el-Amud, which leads to the Arab market and the Islamic Quarter, before they reach the Western Wall, which Jews believe is the last remnant of a synagogue destroyed by Greece in 70 AD.
And former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu wrote on his Twitter account: “Today we celebrate the day of the unification of Jerusalem, our eternal capital, and raise only one blue and white flag.”
Bennett’s “personal test”
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the march would “take place according to the path set for it,” that is, passing through the Old City, but without entering the Al-Aqsa courtyard. And the Yediot Ahronot newspaper wrote that the march was Bennett’s “personal test” compared to his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was prime minister last year. “Netanyahu hesitated, he decided to retreat (change course) because of Hamas threats, and despite this, rockets rained down on us (…) Bennett chose the opposite strategy, with a calm and measured policy,” she added. Analyst Shlomo Mofaz believes that “Hamas is not interested in entering a new war (…) because it is currently focused on rebuilding Gaza.”
In April last year, clashes broke out in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa, which is controlled by Israeli forces, as a result of which hundreds of Palestinians were injured. Israel and the occupied West Bank have seen tension and confrontation since the end of March. In a statement Sunday, the Israeli army confirmed that its forces and forces from the Internal Security Service and the border police conducted “preemptive and preventive operations” in the West Bank, which resulted in the arrest of four suspects “for their involvement in terrorist activities.” . International envoy to the Middle East Thor Wencesland urged Israelis and Palestinians to exercise “maximum restraint”. “The message from the international community is clear: avoid a new escalation,” he said.
