Annual Flag March takes place on Jerusalem Day amid heightened tensions

The annual Jerusalem Day Flag March took place mostly peacefully on Sunday amid heightened tensions between Israel and Palestinian leadership.

Minor clashes were reported during the day at various sites around Jerusalem, but the vast majority of the celebration events proceeded peacefully.

Jerusalem Day – or Yom Yerushalayim - is an Israeli national holiday that commemorates the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the Old City following the Six-Day War of 1967. It is a minor religious holiday as it marks the regaining Jewish access to the Western Wall, but in recent years has been mainly celebrated by right-wing religious Jews.

The most high-profile event of the day is the flag march through the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Muslim quarter, which is viewed as highly provocative by Palestinians.

Jerusalem Day 2022

Jews pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Old City during the Jerusalem Day celebrations (Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The day started with 2,600 Jewish Israelis being granted access to the Temple Mount – a recording-breaking number. The site is the holiest place in Judaism and the third-holiest in Islam. It is a deeply contested flashpoint between Jews and Muslims.

Some Israelis reportedly raised Israeli flags on Temple Mount and also prayed at the holy site in contravention of a long-standing agreement with Muslim authorities, triggering a furious response.

"Israel is irresponsibly and recklessly playing with fire by allowing settlers to desecrate the holy sites" in East Jerusalem, the president's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Jerusalem Day 2022

Israeli border police clash with Palestinians at Damascus gate in Jerusalem's Old City (Photo by Jamal Awad/Flash90)

As more celebrations got underway in the late morning around the city, some 2,000 police officers were deployed throughout Jerusalem and sporadic clashes broke out throughout the day. Police said that at least three people were detained, The Times of Israel reports.

Nationalistic slogans and racist chants were heard from a minority during the Flag March, although the majority joyfully celebrated Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The march – attended by some 70,000 Israelis – also made its way through the mostly-abandoned Muslim Quarter, which is seen as highly provocative by Palestinians. Many shops and stands owned and run by Palestinians were closed due to the fear of confrontation and clashes.

עימותים אלימים בשער שכם בין ערבים ליהודים, הרבה מאוד גז באוויר פה pic.twitter.com/nvDtCRQPAG
— חיים גולדברג (@haim_goldberg) May 29, 2022

Marchers proceeded through the contested Damascus Gate and gathered at the Western Wall where thousands waved Israeli flags.

The celebrations this year came in the aftermath of a spate of terror attacks that left more than 20 Israelis dead in the last two months. Israel has conducted a number of counter-terror operations in the West Bank as a result, and some Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces.

The death of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh earlier this month has also raised tensions in the region, with Palestinians blaming Israeli forces for her death, a claim Israel disputes. Her funeral was also marred after Israeli forces stormed the funeral procession, almost causing the coffin to fall to the ground.

Jerusalem Day 2022

Thousands of Jewish wave the Israeli flags as they celebrate Jerusalem Day by dancing through Damascus Gate on their way to the Western Wall. Jerusalem Day celebrations mark the 50th anniversary of its capture of Arab east Jerusalem in the Six Day War of 1967. (Photo by Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Ahead of this year’s march, Palestinian leadership had issued furious statements threatening rocket attacks on Israel if it went ahead as planned.

Commander of the Gaza Izz al-Din al-Qassem Brigades had said ahead of the march: "The enemy will be surprised by the accuracy, density and impact of our missiles, entering the Holy Land, we are coming."

Defence Minister Benny Gantz said in response: “We will hold whatever kind of march we want to in our capital. You will not threaten our sovereignty.”

The Israel Defence Forces deployed portable bomb shelters over the weekend in Sderot, a city bordering the Gaza Strip, and Israel’s emergency medical service, Magen David Adom, raised its alert level to “daled” — the highest level there is.

Last year, an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Jerusalem Day after militants fired rockets toward the city after clashes between Israelis and Palestinians during the Flag March, and amid very high tensions due to pending court decisions regarding the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.

Thousands of rockets were fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, triggering Israeli airstrikes and counterterrorism operations in response. The direct military confrontation ended after both sides agreed to a ceasefire.