Israeli ultra-nationalists to march in Jerusalem amid escalating tensions
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After the Holy days of both Jews and Palestinians occurred in the same week, communal tensions have been escalating in Jerusalem. Despite the ban put in place to prevent further problems, a group of Israeli ultra-nationalists has announced that they will march in the city.
The group said they will carry on with a flag-waving march around predominantly Palestinian areas of Jerusalem's Old City on Wednesday. A similar event had triggered last year's Israel-Gaza war. One of the organisers of the march, Noam Nisan, said that a Jew with a flag in Jerusalem is not a provocation.
Israeli police have already deployed a large number of officers in the historic Old City to prevent any confrontations between different communities. Jerusalem is holy ground for Jews, Muslims, and Christians. A tense atmosphere has been shrouding the city since the Jewish holy day of Passover and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincided.
In May 2021, Israeli nationalists were holding a similar flag march on their way to the Old City when Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets. This started an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas.
Similar events occurred in recent weeks when Palestinian militants fired a rocket from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel after months. The Israeli government has responded with airstrikes and escalating military operations in the West Bank. A holy site in Jerusalem also saw clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police.