Clashes in Al-Aqsa mosque, skirmishes in streets during Israeli flag march

By Crispian Balmer and Amar Awad

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -1000’s of flag-waving Israeli nationalists marched by means of the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Outdated Metropolis on Sunday in a deeply divisive parade that Palestinian factions warned might re-ignite their battle with Israel.

Police earlier fired stun grenades at Palestinians who pelted them with stones within the Al-Aqsa mosque compound as document numbers of Jews visited the holy website, a few of them showing to wish in defiance of a long-standing ban.

The annual Jerusalem procession celebrates Israel’s seize of the Outdated Metropolis within the 1967 Center East struggle and attracts 1000’s of cheering, chanting contributors to its slender, stone streets.

“Demise to Arabs,” some youths shouted as they entered Damascus Gate, the primary entrance to the Outdated Metropolis’s Muslim neighbourhood. “An Arab is a son of a whore,” one small group yelled out in entrance of Jerusalem’s historical partitions.

Forward of the march, police mentioned 2,600 Jews toured Al-Aqsa esplanade, a document quantity for a single day. Among the guests wore spiritual garb and prostrated themselves. Just a few held up Israeli flags and sang the nationwide anthem.

The preacher of the mosque, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, denounced their behaviour. “What occurred in the present day in Al-Aqsa mosque hadn’t taken place since 1967,” he instructed Reuters, accusing the federal government of intentionally trying to escalate tensions.

The Islamist group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, additionally condemned the scenes, which went viral on social media.

“The Israel authorities is absolutely chargeable for all these reckless insurance policies and the next penalties,” senior Hamas official Bassem Naim instructed Reuters.

Lately, Hamas has solid itself as a defender of Muslim Jerusalem. After weeks of confrontations final 12 months over Palestinian evictions within the metropolis, Hamas fired rockets into Israel in the course of the march, triggering an 11-day struggle that killed at the very least 250 Palestinians in Gaza and 13 individuals in Israel.

DRONE

As nationalists draped in Israel’s blue and white flag gathered at Damascus Gate, a drone flew overhead trailing a Palestinian flag. A person rushed as much as the crowds and waved one other Palestinian flag at them earlier than being dragged away.

Inside town, small fights sporadically broke out. One Israeli youth was videoed utilizing pepper spray on a Palestinian lady, resulting in an change of punches and kicks. Nonetheless, some marchers mentioned they’d are available in peace.

“I do know my neighbours aren’t so joyful that we’re right here, however we did not come to bother them, we got here to be joyful for Jerusalem,” mentioned Yair Sussman, 17, a Jewish seminary who research at a college within the occupied West Financial institution.

Clashes had been reported throughout the West Financial institution on Sunday, injuring at the very least 30 Palestinians, medics mentioned.

Israel sees all of Jerusalem as its everlasting and indivisible capital, whereas Palestinians need the japanese part as capital of their future state. Hamas, deemed a terrorist organisation by Western governments, sees all of modern-day Israel as occupied.

Palestinians view Sunday’s march as an Israeli present of drive and a part of a broader marketing campaign to bolster Jewish presence throughout town.

Nonetheless, Israeli Minister Naftali Bennett defended his resolution to let the march go forward, arguing that it had turn out to be an annual occasion. “Waving the Israeli flag within the capital of Israel is completely acceptable,” he mentioned on Sunday.

Israeli police repeatedly clashed with Palestinians within the Al-Aqsa compound in April, in the course of the holy month of Ramadan, with Muslims angered by the rising numbers of Jewish guests to the mosque esplanade.

Two weeks in the past, the funeral of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, killed throughout an Israeli military West Financial institution raid, descended into chaos when police charged the mourners and yanked away Palestinian flags.

Al-Aqsa is the third holiest website in Islam. Additionally it is revered by Jews because the Temple Mount – a vestige of their religion’s two historical temples.

(Extra reporting by Dan Williams, Maayan Lubell and Henriette Chacar in Jerusalem, Nidal Al Mughrabi in Gaza and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Modifying by Raissa Kasolowsky and Nick Macfie)