Israel’s national ‘Flag March’ in Jerusalem rattles Palestinians

Tens of thousands of Israeli nationalists are expected to march through the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City on Thursday, in an annual event that has raised fears of violence with Palestinian factions.
The annual parade, which marks Israel’s capture of Jerusalem in the 1967 war, has increasingly become a show of force for Jewish nationalists, and for Palestinians a blatant provocation meant to undermine their ties to the city.
Around 2,500 officers will safeguard the march and try to keep it peaceful, police said, having prepared for all scenarios, including violence and anti-Arab chants by some marchers toward Palestinians and rocket fire from Gaza.
Islamist group Hamas, which governs Gaza, fired rockets into Israel during 2021’s march, triggering an 11-day war that killed at least 250 Palestinians in Gaza and 13 people in Israel.
With another round of fighting between Israel and Gaza militants ending only last weekend, appetite for escalation appeared low.