Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered today in Jerusalem for the traditional “March of the Flags”, a demonstration that has evolved in recent years into a show of force by Jewish nationalists as it takes place on the anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the city in the 1967 war.

This year, this march was organized in a tense atmosphere: since the beginning of the year, around 200 people have lost their lives in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, 35 of them in the “five-day war” (May 9-13) between Israeli army and Palestinian armed organizations in the Gaza Strip.

An incident occurred at the Damascus Gate in the Old City, when marchers threw stones and bottles at journalists, according to AFP correspondents. Earlier, journalists from the same agency said they saw young Jews spitting at Palestinians and kicking one of them, before police intervened to disperse them.

Some protesters chanted “Death to the Arabs”.

in Gaza, thousands of people, holding Palestinian flags, gathered on the border with Israel. The Israeli army fired tear gas in the direction of those approaching the security fence.

A source close to Palestinian security services in Gaza also said that members of the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the enclave, fired a “warning” rocket into the Mediterranean.

Gauze

The “March of Flags” is a demonstration organized by Israel on the occasion of “Jerusalem Day”, to celebrate the “reunification” of the city after the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. The UN does not recognize the annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel, as it considers it “illegal” under international law.

The march traditionally passes through the Old City, in East Jerusalem, and ends at the Wailing Wall, the Jewish holy place of prayer.