3,000 police deployed amid fears contested annual march could spark fresh violence
The annual flag march, in which thousands of religious nationalists enter the highly symbolic Damascus Gate and walk through the Muslim Quarter waving Israeli flags, takes place at sunset on whatIt is often accompanied by racist chants and violence and viewed as deeply provocative by the Palestinians.
Early on Sunday, about 2,000 Jewish pilgrims, among them Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of a small ultranationalist opposition party in the Knesset, visited al-Aqsa, known in Judaism as the Temple Mount, accompanied by Israeli police. The visit prompted about 40 Palestinians, who had barricaded themselves inside the mosque overnight, to throw rocks and fireworks.
Police said in a statement that they locked the gates of the mosque and made several arrests before the situation quietened around midday. There were no reports of injuries. Informally, Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray at the site. In recent years, however, growing numbers of Jewish visitors, sometimes praying or with police escorts, have inflamed longstanding Palestinian fears that Israel plans to annex the area. Israel says it is committed to maintaining the status quo, and accuses
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