"Death to the Arabs"; The Israeli "Flag March" has begun in Jerusalem

In Jerusalem, the epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there were no major incidents during the Israeli war in Gaza, but this march could ignite widespread tensions, as it was three years ago before the 11-day war in Gaza, AP writes.

The participants of the march gathered in front of Damascus Gate, the central gathering place of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, shout anti-Arab and anti-Islamic slogans, dance and wave.

Just before the start of the march, the crowd clashed with police and pelted journalists with plastic bottles, while some chanted "Muhammad is dead," referring to the Islamic prophet.

The annual march marks "Jerusalem Day," which commemorates Israel's capture of East Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites that are holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel considers the entire territory of Jerusalem as its capital, but its annexation of East Jerusalem is not internationally recognized.

Palestinians, who see East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, see the march as a provocation. In past years, the police forcibly removed Palestinians from the parade, and large crowds of mostly ultra-nationalist youth chanted "Death to the Arabs," "Burn your village," and other offensive slogans.

Israeli police say they are deploying 3,000 security personnel to ensure peace.

At the insistence of Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police, the march will take the traditional route, entering the Old City's Muslim quarter through Damascus Gate and ending at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

As buses bringing young Jews to the march piled up around the Old City's centuries-old walls, Palestinian merchants closed in on the Muslim quarter in preparation, and police insisted the march would not enter the sprawling Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site.

Earlier today, the Palestinian Wafa agency reported that several hundred ultra-right Israelis had already stormed Al-Aqsa. Counter-protests are planned throughout the day, and the Israeli group Tag Meir sent volunteers through empty city streets ahead of the march to hand out flowers to Christian and Muslim residents of the Old City.