JERUSALEM: Thousands of Israelis took part in an annual march through the Palestinian territory of Jerusalem on Wednesday, chanting "Death to Arabs."
Marchers convening outside the Damascus Gate, a central gathering place for Palestinians in east Jerusalem, chanted anti-Arab and anti-Islamic slogans, danced and waved Israeli flags as the procession kicked off.
Just before the march began, crowds scuffled with police and threw plastic bottles at a journalist wearing a vest with the word PRESS emblazoned on it. Police officers arrested several Palestinian men, leading them away with their hands bound behind their backs.
The annual march commemorates "Jerusalem Day," which marks Israel's capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews, in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its capital, but its annexation of east Jerusalem is not internationally recognized. Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
The march took place as Israel wages its brutal war on Gaza that has killed over 36,000 Palestninas including more than 15,000 children.
The United States has thrown its weight behind a phased cease-fire and hostage release outlined by President Joe Biden last week. But Israel says it won't end the war without destroying Hamas, while the militant group has agreed for a a lasting cease-fire and demanded the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Even amidst high tensions, the march has been planned through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, at the insistence of Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police. The march will end at the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray.
As buses bringing young Jewish men in for the march thronged around the Old City's centuries-old walls, Palestinian shopkeepers closed down in the Muslim Quarter in fear.
The police however stressed that the march would not enter the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam, which is often targetted by the Israel. The hilltop on which it stands is refer to as the Temple Mount by Jews, who consider it as one of their holiest sites.
Counterprotests were also planned throughout the day. An Israeli group, Tag Meir, sent volunteers through the emptying city streets ahead of the march to distribute flowers to Christian and Muslim residents of the Old City.
