OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli officials said on Tuesday they
would allow a right-wing march in Jerusalem's Old City to go ahead next week
under certain conditions, a day after police barred the event's route fearing
it would rekindle conflict between Israel and Hamas in
Gaza.
اضافة اعلان
Several right-wing Israeli groups had planned a flag-waving
procession through the walled Old City's Damascus Gate and into its Muslim
quarter on Thursday, drawing warnings from Gaza's rulers Hamas of renewed
hostilities should it proceed.
The far-right groups canceled the Thursday march after
police denied them a permit. But following a meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's cabinet on Tuesday, his office said ministers had agreed the march
could be held next week if organizers and police reached agreement. The
principal issue is the route.
"The parade will take place this coming Tuesday (June
15) in a format to be agreed between the police and the parade's
organizers," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.
Netanyahu faces an end to his long hold on power on Sunday
when the country's legislature is scheduled to vote on approving a government
of diverse parties that came together to unseat him.
If that vote is successful, it will be up to prime
minister-hopeful Naftali Bennett and his partner opposition leader Yair Lapid
to decide whether to proceed with the march.
Tal Schneider, a leading political reporter in Israel, said
on Twitter: "The flag parade has been postponed to June 15, two days after
the government is sworn in, meaning it will be Naftali Bennett's
headache."
Tensions are likely to remain high in occupied Jerusalem
whether or not the march goes ahead. Protests have flared in the East Jerusalem
neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families face possible
eviction after an Israeli court accepted Jewish settler land claims.
Far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir rejected the march's
postponement as a "surrender to Hamas," saying on Twitter he would
still "arrive on Thursday in the Old City of Jerusalem and march with
Israeli flags."
An original march on May 10 was rerouted at the last minute
as tensions in Jerusalem led Hamas to fire rockets towards the city. Israel
responded with air strikes, and the most serious cross-border fighting with
Hamas in years raged for 11 days before a fragile ceasefire was reached.
Under international law, Palestinians want East Jerusalem to
be the capital of a state they seek to establish in the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip.
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