More than 200 wounded leave march in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM.- Thousands of Israeli nationalists, some of them shouting “death to the Arabs”, marched through the heart of the main Palestinian artery of the Old City of Jerusalem, in a show of force that could trigger a new wave of violence. in the city.

The protesters, who were mostly young Orthodox Jewish men, were celebrating Jerusalem Day, an Israeli holiday marking the capture of East Jerusalem, including the old area, in the 1967 Middle East War.

Palestinians called the march, which passed through the heart of the Muslim quarter, a provocation. Last year, a similar march helped spark an 11-day war between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip.

Israel deployed thousands of police. There were violent clashes between Jewish and Palestinian groups inside the Old City before the start of the march. At least 219 civilians were injured, 16 of them by bullets, during the clash between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the region of the West Bank city of Nablus. Israeli security forces responded with fire, tear gas and sound bombs.

In Beita there were four civilians injured by firearms, two by rubber-coated steel balls and 27 more had to be treated for suffocation by tear gas.