Far-right marchers attack Palestinians as Israel marks taking of Jerusalem
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Far-right Israelis confront Palestinians, other Israelis in chaotic Jerusalem march, witnesses say
Violence follows Israeli far-right security minister’s visit to Al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem. Marchers, mostly young Israelis who live in settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, then began to target Israeli left-wing activists and journalists observing the rally. The marchers shouted nationalistic slogans and called for violence against Palestinians, chanting: “Death to Arabs” The annual “Flag March” drew tens of thousands of people, chanting, dancing and waving Israeli flags after far- right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the mosque compound. The Palestinian presidency based in the West Bank condemned the march andBen Gvir’s visit. Israeli military operations against Gaza, now in its 20th month, have been escalating against Palestinian militants in West Bank where settler attacks on Palestinian residents have been on the rise. The march coincided with the 20th anniversary of the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, which has now escalated to its 18th month. The Israeli military has not commented on the march.
Item 1 of 5 Israelis gather with flags by Damascus Gate to Jerusalem’s Old City, as they mark Jerusalem Day, in Jerusalem May 26, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Summary Annual ‘Flag March’ draws tens of thousands of far-right Israelis, mainly settlers, to Jerusalem
Youthful marchers seen harassing, assaulting some Palestinian residents, other Israelis and journalists, witnesses say
Violence follows Israeli far-right security minister’s visit to Al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem
Rally marks Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in 1967 Middle East war
JERUSALEM, May 26 (Reuters) – A large rally in Jerusalem marking Israel’s capture of the city’s east in the 1967 war descended into chaos on Monday as far-right Israeli Jews confronted and assaulted Palestinians, fellow Israelis and journalists, witnesses said.
The annual “Flag March” drew tens of thousands of people, chanting, dancing and waving Israeli flags after far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a longtime flashpoint of Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
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Violence broke out in the walled Old City of East Jerusalem shortly after midday, a Reuters witness said, when young marchers began harassing the few Palestinian shopkeepers who had yet to shutter their stores ahead of the rally.
The marchers, mostly young Israelis who live in settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, then began to target Israeli left-wing activists and journalists observing the rally.
The demonstrators shouted nationalistic slogans and called for violence against Palestinians, chanting: “Death to Arabs”.
A Palestinian woman and journalists were spat on by a group of young settlers, and nearby Israeli police did not intervene, the Reuters witness said.
Police officials did not respond to a request for comment. No arrests were reported as of late afternoon.
A police officer at the scene said young Israeli marchers could not be arrested because they were under the age of 18.
Moshe, a 35-year-old Israeli settler from the West Bank and supporter of the current right-wing government, walked through a Palestinian neighbourhood of the Old City with a rifle slung over his shoulder and his daughter on his shoulders. It was a “very happy day” because all of Jerusalem was “under the government of Israel,” he said, declining to give his last name.
Left-wing opposition leader Yair Golan, a former armed forces deputy commander, called images of violence in the Old City “shocking”. He said in a statement: “This is not what loving Jerusalem looks like. This is what hatred, racism and bullying look like.”
“We will keep Jerusalem united, whole, and under Israeli sovereignty,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting held in East Jerusalem earlier on Monday.
A spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency based in the West Bank condemned the march and Ben Gvir’s visit to Al-Aqsa.
Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, “repeated incursions into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and provocative acts such as raising the Israeli flag in occupied Jerusalem threaten the stability of the entire region,” the spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said in a statement.
Clashes flared throughout the day as left-wing Israeli activists intervened to escort Palestinians away from young far-right Israeli Jews threatening passersby, witnesses said.
Journalists covering the rally were repeatedly harassed and in some instances assaulted, the Reuters witness said.
SECURITY MINISTER IN MOSQUE COMPOUND
Earlier, Ben Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the walled Old City, known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Arabs as the Noble Sanctuary – the third holiest site in Islam.
Ben Gvir said in a video filmed at the elevated compound that the site was being flooded by Jews. “Today, thank God, it is already possible to pray on the Temple Mount,” he said.
Under a decades-old arrangement, the compound is administered by a Jordanian Islamic trust. Jews, who regard the compound as the site of two ancient temples, are allowed to visit but not pray there.
Ben Gvir, whose visit was condemned by the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, has along with others on the far right in Israel long pushed for Jewish prayer rights at the site.
This year’s Flag March again coincided with the war in Gaza, now in its 20th month, and escalating Israeli military operations against Palestinian militants in the West Bank, where settler attacks targeting Palestinian residents have been on the rise.
The march frequently stokes tension as ultranationalist Jews stream into Palestinian areas of Jerusalem’s walled Old City en route to the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s most sacred sites, which abuts the mosque compound.
The 2021 rally led to a brief war between Israel and Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas. The current war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’ October 2023 attack on southern Israeli communities.
Israel captured East Jerusalem, including the Old City, from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state that would include the West Bank and Gaza.
Most countries consider East Jerusalem to be occupied territory and do not recognise Israeli sovereignty over it. Israel deems Jerusalem as its eternal, indivisible capital.
In 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump recognised all of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv. On Sunday, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, congratulated Israel on what he called the reunification of the city 58 years ago.
Naomi Hirschler, 39, an Israeli hairdresser from Jerusalem, walking past shuttered Palestinian-owned stores in the Old City, said she attends the rally every year.
“It’s something you can’t explain. You feel it. It’s happiness from inside,” she said, adding that she was “very happy that we have Jerusalem for us.”
Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; additional reporting by Lee Marzel; editing by Mark Heinrich and Leslie Adler
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Thousands of Israeli nationalists chant ‘death to Arabs’ during annual procession through Jerusalem
The march commemorates Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. It often becomes a rowdy and sometimes violent procession of ultranationalist Jews. The event threatened to inflame tensions that are rife in the city after nearly 600 days of war in Gaza. Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its eternal, undivided capital. Palestinians want an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital.“This is our home, this is our state,” one protester shouted at a Palestinian woman. “Go away from here!” she responded, in Hebrew, in Arabic.‘There are many Jews flooding the Temple Mount,’ a rabbi says. ‘We are a holiday for Jerusalem.’ ‘How nice to see that many Jews see that the Temple Temple is the Temple’ – an Israeli lawmaker. � ‘This is the most beautiful city in the world’ — an Israeli rabbi. ” ‘It is the birthplace of the Messiah.”
Palestinian shopkeepers closed early and police lined the alleys ahead of the march that often becomes a rowdy and sometimes violent procession of ultranationalist Jews. A police officer raised his arms in celebration at one point, hugging a marcher. It was blazing hot, with temperatures hitting 98 degrees Fahrenheit (37 Celsius) in late afternoon.
Police kept a close watch as demonstrators jumped, danced and sang.
Hours earlier, a small group of protesters, including an Israeli member of parliament, stormed a compound in east Jerusalem belonging to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA.
READ MORE: Israeli strikes kill 52 in Gaza including dozens in a shelter, medics say
The march commemorates Jerusalem Day, which marks Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast war. The event threatened to inflame tensions that are rife in the city after nearly 600 days of war in Gaza.
Jerusalem lies at the heart of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Each sees the city as a key part of their national and religious identity. It is one of the most intractable issues of the conflict and is often a flashpoint.
Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its eternal, undivided capital. Its annexation of east Jerusalem is not internationally recognized. Palestinians want an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital.
Last year’s procession, during the first year of the war in Gaza, saw ultranationalist Israelis attack a Palestinian journalist in the Old City and call for violence against Palestinians. Four years ago, the march helped set off an 11-day war in Gaza.
Tour buses carrying young ultranationalist Jews lined up near entrances to the Old City, bringing hundreds from outside Jerusalem, including settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
After this year’s march ended, Arab shopkeepers darted outside to begin scrubbing their shops, now covered with stickers reading “Gaza is ours.”
Police, who called the procession the “Dance of Flags,” said they had detained a number of people and “acted swiftly to prevent violence, confrontations and provocations.”
Speaking in an east Jerusalem archaeological park located in a Palestinian neighborhood, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to “preserve a united, whole Jerusalem, and the sovereignty of Israel.” He said the government was encouraging foreign embassies to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and investing billions of shekels in the city’s development.
Volunteers from the pro-peace organization Standing Together and the Free Jerusalem collective, which works with Palestinians in Jerusalem, tried to position themselves between the marchers and residents to prevent violence.
One shopkeeper swept the floor after marchers tipped over his bale of bay leaves. A group of young Jewish Israelis followed a Palestinian woman through the streets, calling her “charmouta” — Arabic for “whore.”
“This is our home, this is our state,” one protester shouted at a Palestinian woman.
“Go away from here!” she responded, in Hebrew.
Increased Jewish visits to a flashpoint holy site
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the country’s police force, visited a hilltop compound holy to Jews and Muslims, where Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are located. One Israeli lawmaker, Yitzhak Kroizer, could be seen praying.
Perceived encroachments by Jews on the site have set off widespread violence on a number of occasions going back decades. Hamas accused Israel of “desecrating” the site when it launched its Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
“We are marking a holiday for Jerusalem,” Ben-Gvir said, accompanied by other lawmakers and a rabbi. “There are truly many Jews flooding the Temple Mount. How nice to see that.”
Beyadenu, an activist group that encourages Jewish visits to the site, said dozens of people had ascended to the compound draped in the Israeli flag, and had prayed there.
Since Israel captured the site in 1967, a tenuous understanding between Israeli and Muslim religious authorities at the compound has allowed Jews — who revere the site as the Temple Mount, the location of the biblical temples — to visit but not pray there.
Ben-Gvir said he is changing that status quo. Palestinians say it has long been eroding because of an increase in Jewish visits.
“Today, thank God, it is possible to pray on the Temple Mount,” Ben-Gvir said, according to a statement from his office.
The prime minister’s office said there has been no change to the status quo. Police said Monday’s march would not enter the site.
For many in Israel, Jerusalem Day is a joyous occasion that marks a moment of redemption in their country’s history, when access to the key Jewish holy site of the Western Wall was restored and the city was unified. But in recent years, the Jerusalem Day march has been dominated by young nationalist and religious Israelis.
Protesters storm U.N. compound in Jerusalem
UNRWA West Bank coordinator Roland Friedrich said around a dozen Israeli protesters, including Yulia Malinovsky, one of the legislators behind an Israeli law that banned UNRWA, forcefully entered the compound, climbing its main gate in view of Israeli police.
Protesters held a banner calling for the compound to be turned into an Israeli settlement. Israel’s housing minister said last year he had instructed the ministry to “examine how to return the area to the state of Israel and utilize it for housing.”
Israel has accused the agency, the biggest aid provider in Gaza, of being infiltrated by Hamas, allegations the U.N. has denied.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli police.
The compound has stood mainly empty since the end of January, after UNRWA asked staff not to work from there, fearing for their safety. The U.N. says it has not vacated the compound and that it is protected under international law.
Far-right Israelis storm Al-Aqsa, UNRWA compounds amid Jerusalem Day march
Some Israelis chant, ‘Death to Arabs’ and ‘May your village burn,’ as they march through Jerusalem’s Old City. Right-wing Israelis in Jerusalem have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and a United Nations facility for Palestinian refugees. The march commemorates the Israeli occupation and annexation of East Jerusalem after the 1967 war. Thousands of heavily armed police and border police were dispatched in advance because settlers regularly assault, attack and harass Palestinians and shops in the Muslim quarter. The settlers live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law. They were seen on Monday confronting Palestinian shopkeepers, passers-by and schoolchildren as well as Israeli rights activists and police, at times spitting on people, lobbing insults and trying to force their way into houses. Police detained at least two youths, according to AFP journalists at the scene.
Right-wing Israelis in Jerusalem have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and a United Nations facility for Palestinian refugees as an annual march took place marking Israel’s conquest of the eastern part of the city.
Some Israelis chanted, “Death to Arabs” and “May your village burn,” as they marched through the alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday, going through the Muslim quarter to mark “Jerusalem Day”, which commemorates the Israeli occupation and annexation of East Jerusalem after the 1967 war.
Thousands of heavily armed police and border police were dispatched in advance because settlers regularly assault, attack and harass Palestinians and shops in the Muslim quarter. The settlers live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.
Groups of young people, some carrying Israeli flags, were seen on Monday confronting Palestinian shopkeepers, passers-by and schoolchildren as well as Israeli rights activists and police, at times spitting on people, lobbing insults and trying to force their way into houses.
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Police detained at least two youths, according to AFP journalists at the scene.
A small group of those rallying, including an Israeli member of parliament, stormed a compound in East Jerusalem belonging to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA.
Israel has banned the agency from working in occupied Palestinian territory and in Israel, impacting the life-saving work that it has been carrying out for more than 70 years in areas that include the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip.
UNRWA West Bank coordinator Roland Friedrich said about a dozen Israeli protesters, including Yulia Malinovsky, one of the legislators behind an Israeli law that banned UNRWA, entered the compound, climbing its main gate in view of Israeli police.
Last year’s procession, held during the first year of Israel’s assault on Gaza, saw ultranationalist Israelis attack a Palestinian journalist in the Old City and call for violence against Palestinians. And four years ago, the march contributed to the outbreak of an 11-day war in Gaza.
Earlier on Monday, Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and other politicians were among more than 2,000 Israelis who stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and surrounding areas.
Ben-Gvir released a video on his X account from the site – Islam’s third holiest – saying he “prayed for victory in the war, for the return of all our hostages, and for the success of the newly-appointed head of the Shin Bet – Major General David Zini”.
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Negev and Galilee Minister Yitzhak Vaserlauf and Knesset member Yitzhak Kreuzer were among those accompanying the ultranationalist minister.
Backed by armed police, Ben-Gvir has carried out similar provocative moves in the compound before, often at sensitive junctures in Israel’s war on Gaza, to advocate for increased military pressure and to block all humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
The Jerusalem Waqf – the Islamic authority that oversees the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) – decried the storming of the compound by Ben-Gvir and other members of the Israeli Knesset and called for a halt to all “provocative activities” in the area.
Under the management of the Jordan-appointed Waqf, only Muslims are allowed to pray at the compound.
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said the march is aimed at asserting Israeli dominance over the city.
“Videos show Israeli citizens inside the Old City of Jerusalem attacking Palestinian shops and throwing objects at them,” Ibrahim said, reporting from Doha, Qatar as Al Jazeera has been banned from reporting in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem.
“This is again a reminder that no one has immunity.”
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Young girl escapes burning Gaza school after Israeli attack
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Reuters A girl stands in the ruins of the school building in Gaza City that was hit by an air strike
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Reuters A boy inspects the damage at the site of an air strike on a school building, now sheltering displaced people, in Gaza City
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Far-right marchers attack Palestinians as Israel marks taking of Jerusalem
Far-right marchers attack Palestinians as Israel marks taking of Jerusalem. Chants of “death to Arabs” and nationalistic slogans repeated during event. Violence broke out as ultranationalist Jews streamed into Palestinian areas of Jerusalem’s walled Old City. Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said the event had become a festival of “hatred and racism”, adding it was “a disgrace and an insult to Judaism” Israeli police were deployed as violence broke out in the walledOld City of Occupied East Jerusalem shortly after midday. Thousands of nationalist Israelis descended to Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances. Right-wing activists held banners that read “67 – Jerusalem in our hands; 2025 – Gaza inOur hands”. Arab traders in the Muslim Quarter who had yet to close their shops were harassed by young Israeli men, witnesses said. Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, “repeated incursions into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and provocative acts such as raising the Israeli flag in occupied Jerusalem threaten the stability of the entire region,” a Palestinian spokesman said.
6 hours ago Share Save Wyre Davies • @WyreDavies Middle East Correspondent Reporting from Damascus Gate, Jerusalem Ruth Comerford BBC News Share Save
Getty Images Israeli police remove a right-wing activist in Jerusalem’s Old City
Crowds of far-right Israelis chanted insults and assaulted Palestinians during an annual parade for Jerusalem Day on Monday. Chants of “death to Arabs” and nationalistic slogans were repeated during the event, which commemorates Israeli forces taking Palestinian-majority East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Violence broke out as ultranationalist Jews streamed into Palestinian areas of Jerusalem’s walled Old City. Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said the event had become a festival of “hatred and racism”, adding it was “a disgrace and an insult to Judaism”.
AFP via Getty Images Right-wing activists hold a banner saying “67 – Jerusalem in our hands; 2025 – Gaza in our hands”
Israeli police were deployed as violence broke out in the walled Old City of Occupied East Jerusalem shortly after midday. Thousands of nationalist Israelis descended to Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances. Right-wing activists held banners that read “67 – Jerusalem in our hands; 2025 – Gaza in our hands”. Arab traders in the Muslim Quarter who had yet to close their shops were harassed by young Israeli men, witnesses said. Chants of “May your village burn” and “Your home will be ours” were heard throughout the march. Aggressive marchers were detained and removed from the Old City by Israeli police. National security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, of the Jewish Power party, called for the death penalty for “terrorists” in an address to the crowds. Gvir also visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam and known by Jews as the Temple Mount. Jews revere it as the location of two Biblical Temples and it is the holiest site in Judaism. The compound is administered by a Jordanian Islamic trust. Jews are allowed to visit but not pray there. A spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, based in the West Bank, condemned the march and Ben Gvir’s visit to Al-Aqsa. Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, “repeated incursions into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and provocative acts such as raising the Israeli flag in occupied Jerusalem threaten the stability of the entire region,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement. In a cabinet meeting on Monday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep Jerusalem “united, whole, and under Israeli sovereignty”.
Getty Images Israeli police detain an Israeli man near the the Al-Aqsa mosque
Left-wing opposition leader Yair Golan described images of violence in the Old City as “shocking”. “This is what hatred, racism and bullying look like,” he said in a statement on X. “We will fight for Jerusalem for all of us, Jews, Christians and Muslims, secular and religious. “Jerusalem belongs to all those who love her. We will fight for her and restore her as a city for us all.” Lapid, another opposition leader, added: “There is nothing Jewish about this violence. The government ministers who remain silent in the face of these events are complicit in this disgrace.” Every year thousands of Israelis march a route through Jerusalem and the annexed Old City, ending at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray in Jerusalem. On Sunday, a large Israeli flag was unfurled at the Western Wall plaza. The parade mark Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and the “unification” of a city that the Israeli government says is their eternal capital. Palestinians also want Jerusalem as their future capital and much of the international community regards East Jerusalem as Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory. This year’s Flag March again coincided with the war in Gaza and escalating Israeli military operations against Palestinian militants in the West Bank. Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’s cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Fifty-seven are still being held, about 20 of whom are assumed to be alive. At least 53,939 people, including at least 16,500 children, have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.