Israeli settlers march through al-Quds Old City on contentious Flag Day

Thousands of Israeli settlers have marched through a Palestinian neighborhood of the holy city of al-Quds on the occasion of the contentious Flag Day procession, which marks the conclusion of the 1967 Six-Day War and the start of the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

The participants on Wednesday gathered outside the Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances into the Old City of al-Quds and typically a major hangout for Palestinians in the eastern flank of the city, and chanted anti-Arab and anti-Islamic slogans as they carried blue and white Israeli flags.

Marchers scuffled with police forces and hurled plastic bottles at a journalist wearing a vest with the word PRESS emblazoned on it.

Some chanted “Muhammad is dead!” as they insulted the last prophet of God and the most revered icon of Islam.

Israel's notorious far-right minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said at the march, “We send a message to Hamas: Jerusalem (al-Quds) is ours. Damascus Gate is ours. The Temple Mount (al-Aqsa Mosque) is ours. With the hand of God, the full victory is ours.”

Earlier, thousands of Israeli police officers had been deployed in the streets of al-Quds ahead of the so-called Flag Day procession.

As buses brought young Jewish men in for the march, many Palestinian shopkeepers shuttered their businesses for fear of price-tag attacks by extremists.

The march took place as the war in Gaza approaches the start of its ninth month.

Israel waged the atrocious onslaught against the Gaza Strip, targeting hospitals, residences, and houses of worship after Palestinian resistance movements launched a surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the usurping regime on October 7.

At least 36,550 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and another 82,959 individuals have sustained injuries. More than 1.7 million people have been internally displaced during the war as well.

Israel considers all of al-Quds, including its eastern sector, which it seized in the 1967 Six-Day War with a coalition of Arab countries (primarily Egypt, Syria and Jordan) and annexed in a move not recognized internationally, as its “eternal and undivided” capital.

Hamas warns Israel against any ‘foolish act’ during provocative ‘flag march’ in al-Aqsa

Hamas has warned Israel against committing any “foolish act” in al-Aqsa during the so-called flag march.

Palestinians see the so-called Flag Day procession as a blatant provocation aimed at undermining their assertion to East al-Quds as the capital of a future independent state.

Last year, the event saw groups of Jewish youths chant slogans including “Death to Arabs!”

In 2022, marchers unleashed violence and pepper spray on residents of the Old City, wounding at least 79 Palestinians, 28 of whom required hospital treatment.

The previous year, frequent acts of violence against Palestinian worshipers at al-Aqsa Mosque led to an 11-day war between Palestinian resistance groups in the besieged Gaza Strip and the Israeli regime, during which the regime forces killed at least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children.

Israel launched its savagery in Gaza Palestinians on October 7, after the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance groups staged Operation al-Aqsa Storm, a surprise attack on the occupied territories, in response to the Israeli regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.

At least 36,586 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and another 83,074 individuals have sustained injuries. More than 1.7 million people have been internally displaced during the war as well.

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