Police said at least 17 people were arrested during Tuesday's flag parade through Jerusalem after the controversial march was rerouted in order to avoid a fresh spark of violence between Jews and Arabs.
Some 2,000 police officers were deployed in the afternoon to the scene of the nationalist march for the annual event that drew Palestinian warnings of violent protests and posed a first test for the new government. The parade was cut short on its original May 10 date due to rocket fire on Jerusalem from Gaza.
The streets surrounding the Damascus Gate, which the parade passed by, were cleared of people and traffic ahead of the parade but once the march reached the area, clashes broke out between marchers and Arab youths waving Palestinian flags, which were quickly broken up by police forces.
In addition, in East Jerusalem about 27 people were hurt in clashes with the police, most of them sustaining mild injuries. Three people were evacuated to a hospital.
The police said that at least 17 people were arrested for throwing rocks and assaulting policemen across several locations along the far-right parade's route.
The parade eventually reached the Western Wall plaza where a mass prayer was held with thousands in attendance and eventually tailed off without major incidents.
Midway through the parade, however, marchers faced a surprising development when passing through the Jaffa Gate area in the Old City.
When the marchers reached the area, officials told them they were allowed to enter in small groups of 50 people and under heavy security in order to avoid crowds of Jewish nationalists harassing Arab-owned shops at the location.
The move was allegedly done to avoid confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians in the area, which would have likely spilled into Gaza and the West Bank.
Furthermore, Israeli officials apparently informed Egypt that the march had been rerouted and its purpose is not to incite. The officials also apparently told Egypt that they expect them to restrain Hamas terrorists, who threated to retaliate if the march went ahead.
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Israeli fire fighters extinguish a flame started by an incendiary balloon
(Photo: Haim Horenshtein)
But a Palestinian source told Ynet on Tuesday that the terror group that rules Gaza would limit their activities to protests on the border, including igniting fires in nearby Israeli fields with the use of incendiary balloons.
Local officials said at least 26 fires broke out in communities bordering Gaza since the morning hours. In addition, an explosive device attached to a balloon exploded mid-air above a kindergarten in Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council.
Some media reports said Bennett's administration would order retaliation for the resumption of the balloon launches, though not necessarily immediately.
During the parade, at one point, several dozen youths, jumping and waving their hands in their air, chanted: "Death to Arabs!" In another anti-Arab chant, they yelled: "May your village burn."
In a scathing condemnation on Twitter, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said those shouting racist slogans were "a disgrace to the Israeli people," adding: "The fact that there are radicals for whom the Israeli flag represents hatred and racism is abominable and unforgivable."