JERUSALEM: Thousands of Zionists on Sunday started the annual nationalist "flag march" through Jerusalem that regularly stokes Palestinian anger, a year after tensions in the disputed Holy City exploded into war. Some 2,000 police were deployed for the event that marks the Zionist entity's 1967 capture of east Jerusalem, home of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Across annexed east Jerusalem, many Palestinian flags flew from rooftops ahead of the "Jerusalem Day" march, which began at 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) in west Jerusalem, with participants heading towards the Old City. Earlier Sunday, flag-waving Jewish nationalists chanting pro-Zionist slogans, among them a far-right lawmaker, visited Al-Aqsa.

Isolated clashes broke out at the Old City's Damascus Gate where dozens of Zionist nationalists danced in front of Palestinians, one of whom raised his shoe in an Arab insult. Police reported more than 20 arrests over "disorderly conduct". The march comes a year after tensions and unrest in Jerusalem led the Islamist armed group Hamas to fire rockets at the Zionist entity from the blockaded Gaza Strip, triggering an 11-day war.

Hamas warned last week that marchers must not pass through the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, saying it would use all means to confront them. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday the march follow "the regular route" and urged participants to be "respectful".

Police said that some 2,600 people had ascended to the compound during Sunday's regular visitation windows - a figure that is higher than normal and includes tourists. Some Jews had "violated visitation rules" and several people were detained, police said without providing further details, before the day's visits concluded.

One group sang pro-Zionist chants, including "Yerushalayim rak shelanou" or "Jerusalem belongs to us only". Far-right nationalist lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir, who was among those who went to Al-Aqsa, later said his visit aimed "to reaffirm that we, (the Zionist entity), are sovereign" in the Holy City. Most of the international community does not recognize Zionist control over east Jerusalem, which Palestinians see as the capital of a future state.

Some participants in Sunday's march were set to pass through Damascus Gate on their way to the Western Wall, a controversial route for which police force Palestinians businesses to close. Despite recent violence, tensions have been more muted in the run-up to Sunday's rally compared to last year.

Security analyst Shlomo Mofaz judged that Bennett was betting on the likelihood that for now "Hamas does not have any interest in another war". Some observers believe unrest could be fueled by fallout from the killing last week in Tehran of Iranian Revolutionary Guards colonel Sayyad Khodai.

According to The New York Times, the Zionist entity has informed the United States that the Zionist state's operatives were responsible for gunning him down. Without addressing Khodai's killing, Bennett said that "the era of the Iranian regime's immunity is over ... Whoever arms terrorists ... will pay the full price".

Iran backs Hamas, and Mofaz argued that Tehran may "encourage" Palestinian armed factions to launch rockets at the Zionist entity. Gaza resident Mohamed Al-Moughrabi, 20, said that although fear of a new war was high, he expected that "the situation will not be like last year". - AFP