The relatively quiet Sunday morning celebrations of Jerusalem Day on the Temple Mount were interrupted by clashes between Arab rioters and Israeli security forces.
The security forces were attempting to secure Jewish visitors on the holy site when the clashes erupted. According to Palestinian media reports, videos of the clashes show the Israeli security closing the doors to Al-Aqsa mosque, just as protesters inside hurled objects and chairs from windows above onto them.
The security forces had been on guard since the previous night at the holy site from the start of the celebrations, that began in the evening of 28 May and will continue till evening of 29 May. This Israeli national holiday, which celebrates the end of the Six-Day War of 1967 establishing Israeli control over the Old City along with the reunification of Jerusalem.
Temple Mount is scheduled to be open from 7a.m. to 11 a.m. and again 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. for Jewish visitors, as per the Jerusalem Post.
In order to assess the situation properly, Israeli Security Chief Kobi Shabtai showed up at the police station near the Western Wall when he was notified about the clashes. Shabtai was accompanied by Jerusalem Police District commander Doron Turgeman and local officers.
The controversial flag march is scheduled to begin by 4 p.m. wherein the Jewish youths will be marching along Jaffa Street to Damascus Gate, will pass through the Muslim Quarter in the Old City and finish at Western Wall, The Times of Israel reported.
On Saturday evening, there were some clashes and police arrests reported at the Damascus Gate area by Palestinian media but no detailed information was released.
The flag march will be heavily guarded by security officers, as a few recent events have generated possibilities of a violent end of the celebrations. Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups had also openly warned on an "explosion" ahead of the march today if Israeli nationalist enter the Muslim neighborhood.
The previous year's march witnessed a devastating 11-day war that resulted in the death of nearly 250 Palestinians, as Hamas groups launched rockets minutes after the march started.
