Israel - Palestine tensions simmer as Jewish ultranationalists plan to march in Jerusalem, in defiance of police ban

A group of Israeli ultra-nationalists said it is determined to go ahead with a flag-waving march around predominantly Palestinian areas of Jerusalem’s Old City later Wednesday, brushing aside a police ban of an event that served as one of the triggers of last year’s Israel-Gaza war.

In a sign of the already heated atmosphere, a small group of Palestinian protesters threw rocks at police while hundreds of Jewish visitors entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

The hilltop shrine in Jerusalem’s Old City is the third holiest in Islam, while for Jews it is their holiest site, where two temples stood in antiquity. It is the emotional ground zero for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a flashpoint for previous rounds of violence.

Israeli police said a large number of officers were deployed around Jerusalem’s historic Old City, home to religious sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims, out of concern that confrontations could further ignite an already tense situation in the city during the Jewish holiday of Passover and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Israeli, Palestininan and Jordanian leaders to discuss recent violence in Israel and the West Bank that has escalated tensions in the region, officials said on Tuesday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said he updated the top U.S. diplomat on Tuesday about Israel's efforts to ensure freedom of worship in Jerusalem, after clashes with Israeli riot police on Friday inside the Al Aqsa mosque compound in which at least 152 Palestinians were wounded.

Lapid blamed "hundreds of Islamic extremists" for rioting and spreading disinformation that inflame tensions.

"I told @SecBlinken that Israel will not tolerate calls in support of violence, and I emphasized the need for international support for returning calm to Jerusalem," he said on Twitter.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Abbas told Blinken on Tuesday that "brutal attacks" by Israeli forces and settlers on the mosque compound and Israeli incursions into Palestinian cities and villages "will lead to dire and unbearable consequences," Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Seperately, the United Arab Emirates has summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest against clashes at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, the Gulf state's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation, stressed the need "to immediately stop these events (and) provide full protection for worshippers", the ministry said in a statement.

She also called for "respect for the right of Palestinians to practise their religious rites, and halt any practices that violate the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Moreover, she expressed concern over the escalation of tension that threatens stability and security in the region".

In addition, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday he told his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog that he was "very upset" by Palestinians injured or killed in the West Bank and Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions have surged in recent weeks after a series of deadly attacks inside Israel, followed by military operations in the West Bank. On Monday, Palestinian militants fired a rocket from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel for the first time in months, and Israel responded with airstrikes. These followed days of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at the flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem.

Noam Nisan, one of the organizers of the planned march, told Kan public radio that it would proceed as planned on Wednesday. “A Jew with a flag in Jerusalem is not a provocation,” he said.

He said that the demonstration was a response to buses being stoned earlier this week while driving to the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray, located in Jerusalem’s Old City.

(with inputs from AP)