Unrest erupts at Jerusalem holy site ahead of parade

Over 2,500 Jews visited Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site on Sunday ahead of a parade through the Old City, prompting Palestinians barricaded inside the Al Aqsa Mosque to throw rocks and fireworks at the visitors and nearby Israeli police.

Thousands of police were deployed throughout the city for Sunday’s march, in which flag-waving Israeli nationalists planned to walk through the heart of the Old City’s main Palestinian thoroughfare.

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Ahead of the march, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that “flying the flag of Israel in the capital of Israel is an obvious thing” and that Israel had made this clear “from the outset.” At the same time, he asked participants to celebrate in a “responsible and respectful manner.”

Thousands of people normally take part in the march through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, including some who shout out nationalistic or racist slogans toward the Palestinians, before making their way to the Western Wall in the Jewish Quarter.

• MENA