Israeli occupation forces spread densely on Sunday, May 29, in East Jerusalem to accompany the "Flag March" which is organized annually, raising fears of new tensions.

The Israeli police said they deployed three thousand personnel to accompany the "Jerusalem Day" march, which will start at four in the afternoon local time (13:00 GMT).

The march is organized annually on "Jerusalem Day," when Israel commemorates the "unification of Jerusalem," after occupying its eastern part during the Six-Day War in 1967 and then annexing it in a step not recognized by the international community. It is usually participated in by extremist Jews.

Jews are allowed to enter the Al-Aqsa compound, but they are forbidden from praying there. However, an increasing number of Jews have begun to visit the compound to pray secretly, causing tensions and Palestinian condemnation of an intention to "Judaize" the sacred site for Muslims.

For Palestinians, the march represents provocation and violation of one of the few places in the city that still retains a strong Arab character. The city's activities are increasingly surrounded by Jewish settlement.

Bennett's test and Hamas' interest

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that the march "will proceed along the specified route, as it has for decades," crossing the Old City but without entering the Al-Aqsa compound.

The "Yedioth Ahronoth" newspaper wrote that the march is "a personal test, and a test of Bennett's character compared to his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu, who was head of the government last year."

It added, "(Benjamin) Netanyahu was hesitant, made a decision to retract (changing the route) due to Hamas threats, and despite that, we were bombarded with rockets (...). Bennett chose the opposite strategy, with a calm and calculated policy."

What is this policy? Analyst Shlomo Mofaz believes that "Hamas has no interest in entering a new war (...) as it is currently focusing on rebuilding Gaza."

Another influencing factor is the Iranian position. Tehran supports the "Hamas" and "Islamic Jihad" movements, which are also active in the Gaza Strip.

The American "New York Times" newspaper mentioned on Friday that Israel informed Washington of its responsibility for killing Brigadier General in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Sayad Khodaei near Tehran recently. Therefore, Mofaz believes the Iranians "may encourage ('Hamas' or 'Jihad') to break the status quo" and launch rockets at Israel.

The international envoy to the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, called on Israelis and Palestinians to exercise "the highest degree of restraint." He said, "The international community's message is clear: avoid new escalation."

Palestinian call for mobilization

Palestinian factions, after a meeting held on Thursday, called "the masses of our people in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and inside the occupied territories to mobilize in the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque," and considered Sunday "a national day to defend Al-Aqsa and general mobilization," speaking of "plans by settlers to storm Al-Aqsa."

The factions warned Israel "against committing any folly by allowing the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque," affirming that "this plan will be like a powder keg that will explode and ignite the entire region."

The factions called for "going out to the streets raising the Palestinian flag and engaging openly with the enemy at the contact points."

The Hamas movement called on Saturday "our people to general mobilization tomorrow and to head to Al-Aqsa Mosque to thwart the occupation's Judaization plans."

Hamas political bureau member Ghazi Hamad told the AFP news agency, "We will not hesitate to use all possible means to stop the storming of our sanctities."

Wave of violence

In last April, confrontations took place around Al-Aqsa, where Israeli forces control entrances, resulting in hundreds of Palestinian injuries.

In a wave of violence that began in late March, 19 people were killed, most of them civilians, in attacks against Israelis carried out by Palestinians, including Arab Israelis inside Israel and in the occupied West Bank, and three of the attackers were killed during those attacks.

In response to the attacks, Israeli forces intensified their military operations in the West Bank, where 35 Palestinians were killed, including activists and civilians such as journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh during her coverage of an Israeli military operation in Jenin camp, the stronghold of Palestinian armed factions.

An officer from the Israeli special forces was killed during an operation in the West Bank.

Confrontations and rockets

Last year, after weeks of tensions and confrontations in Jerusalem, Hamas threatened to launch rockets if the Israeli state did not withdraw its forces from the Old City, through which the "Flag March," which coincided with May 10 according to the Hebrew calendar, was to pass. Despite Israeli authorities deciding to change the route of the demonstration, Hamas launched a barrage of rockets towards Israel, which responded with a massive military operation on the Gaza Strip controlled by Hamas. The war lasted 11 days.

Stormings and clashes

The first group of settlers began storming the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque amid tight guarding by occupation soldiers.

On the other hand, the occupation forces closed the gate adjacent to the Chain Gate with iron chains simultaneously with the storming of the second group of settlers.

Meanwhile, Palestinian youths besieged inside the Qiblah prayer hall threw fireworks to confuse the settlers storming Al-Aqsa.

In a later development, Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir told Kan Arabic Radio before storming the Jerusalemite sanctuary that despite Hamas threats: "This increases my motivation. What would happen if Hamas threatened to close the state of Israel? Today the Jerusalem sanctuary, tomorrow Bab al-Amud, and perhaps also Jaffa and Lod."