On Tuesday, hundreds of Israeli ultranationalists, some chanting “Death to Arabs,” paraded in East Jerusalem in a show of force that threatened to spark renewed violence. Palestinians in Gaza responded by launching incendiary balloons that caused at least 10 fires in southern Israel.
The march posed a test for Israel’s fragile new government as well as the tenuous truce that ended last month’s 11-day war between Israel and Hamas.
Palestinians consider the march, meant to celebrate Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in 1967, to be a provocation. Hamas called on Palestinians to “resist” the parade, a version of which helped ignite last month’s war.
With music blaring, hundreds of Jewish ultranationalists gathered in front of the Damascus Gate, which leads into Jerusalem’s Old City. Most appeared to be young men, and many held blue-and-white Israeli flags as they danced and sang religious songs.
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