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"Flag March" in Jerusalem
Photo: ATEF SAFADI/EPA
The controversial "flag march" by ultranationalist Israelis in Jerusalem on Sunday triggered new tensions.
Thousands of people took part in the march in the old city of Jerusalem in the afternoon under high security precautions.
Even before the start, Palestinians had clashes with Israeli police officers who guarded the entrance to the Temple Mount.
There was great concern that ultra-nationalists could also enter the Temple Mount during the march.
The Israeli police were on high alert.
Around 3,000 police officers were mobilized before the start of the controversial march by nationalist Israelis to commemorate the Israeli conquest of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Around 2,600 non-Muslims, more than usual, visited the Temple Mount in the morning, including many Jews.
Police reported isolated confrontations and arrests.
According to them, some Jews had violated the "visiting rules" on the Temple Mount, and Palestinians responded by throwing stones.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 24 people were injured in isolated clashes in the old city.
For Muslims, the hill with the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site after Mecca and Medina.
Judaism reveres the Temple Mount as its holiest site.
The Temple Mount is under Muslim administration.
To avoid provocation, Jews - like other non-Muslim visitors - are allowed to visit the Temple Mount at certain times, but not to pray there.
The Israeli police monitors the security of the site.
However, nationalist Israelis deliberately break the ban on prayer time and again.
The right-wing MP Itamar Ben Gvir, known for his provocations, was among the Israeli visitors to the Temple Mount in the morning.
With his visit, he wanted to show that Israel also has sovereignty over the Temple Mount, he said afterwards.
Last year, around Jerusalem Day, there were serious clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
The riots culminated in an eleven-day escalation of violence with mutual heavy rocket fire between Israel and the ruling Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.
More than 270 people were killed, most of them Palestinians.
Palestinian groups warned participants in this year's "flag march" not to set foot on the Temple Mount.
"We will not hesitate to use all conceivable means to stop a 'possible' intrusion into our holy places," said Ghazi Hamad from the political office of the radical Islamist Hamas.
Israel would then "pay a high price".
Israel annexed eastern Jerusalem in 1980.
The annexation is not recognized internationally.
Israel has declared all of Jerusalem its "indivisible" capital, while the Palestinians want to make East Jerusalem the capital of their aspired state.
The conflict between Israel and militant Palestinians has intensified again in recent weeks.
Since March, 19 Israeli civilians have been killed in anti-Israel violence by Palestinians and Arab Israelis.
The Israeli security forces responded with operations in Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank - especially in the area around Jenin, a stronghold of armed Palestinian groups.
Three Israeli-Arab attackers, a police officer and 35 Palestinians died in Israel and the West Bank.
Among the dead were members of armed groups, but also civilians and journalist Shirin Abu Akleh, who was shot dead while reporting on an army operation in Jenin.
whale/AFP