Ultra-nationalist Jewish crowds have marched through Jerusalem’s Old City to celebrate Israel’s illegal occupation of East Jerusalem, chanting slogans such as “Death to Arabs”.
Thousands of marchers who outnumbered Israeli security forces deployed to control the crowds, entered the Old City.
The annual so-called flag march came after the far-right Israelis stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound – Islam’s third holiest site – in violation of the status quo. Jewish prayers are prohibited at the compound, where Jews believe the biblical temple once stood.
Israel captured East Jerusalem, including the Old City, in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed it in a move never recognised internationally.
The Palestinians, who seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, fear the Israeli march and storming of Al-Aqsa is a plot to take over or divide the area.
Israel denies such claims, saying it remains committed to the status quo.
In the occupied Palestinian territory, people protested against the march, burning Israeli flags and in many cases leading to confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. Dozens of Palestinians have been arrested and more than 100 have been injured.
