OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: Israeli right-wing groups on Monday cancelled plans for a controversial march through annexed east al-Quds this week, citing police restrictions, as Hamas warned the event would spark new violence.
The so-called March of the Flags was due to take place on Thursday and proceed through flashpoint areas of east al-Quds that have seen repeated clashes recently between Israeli police and Palestinians.
"Police refused to give us authorisation" for the requested route, a spokesperson for one of the groups organising the march said. Israeli police said in a statement that "the current route at this time is not approved", without stating that the march had been scrapped. But some extreme-right Israeli politicians said they would go ahead with the march anyway.
Ultra-right wing MP Itamar Ben-Gvir, whom police have accused of stirring unrest in al-Quds, along with conservative Likud member May Golan tweeted that they would march in al-Quds on Thursday, which they can do with parliamentary status.
The statement from police came as Khalil Hayya, a senior figure of the Palestinian group Hamas ruling Gaza, warned the march could spark new violence, following the military escalation of May 10-21. "We warn the occupation (Israel) against letting the march approach east al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday," Hayya said. "We hope the message is clear so that Thursday doesn’t become (a new) May 10."
The latest war started after Hamas had issued a short deadline for Israel to remove its security forces from flashpoint areas in east al-Quds, then launched its first volley of rockets at Israel.
Earlier on May 10, organisers had called off plans for another march, to mark "Jerusalem Day". The event commemorates what Israelis consider the "reunification" of the disputed city following the 1967 Six-Day War, when it seized east Jerusalem before annexing it. Right-wing organisers have described this week’s planned march as a routine demonstration of free expression, but many critics feared it could set a match to already inflamed tensions.