Israel said to send warning to Hamas over Jerusalem Day Flag March

File: MK Bezalel Smotrich, center, waves an Israeli flag during the annual 'Flags March' next to Damascus Gate, outside Jerusalem's Old City, June 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
File: MK Bezalel Smotrich, center, waves an Israeli flag during the annual 'Flags March' next to Damascus Gate, outside Jerusalem's Old City, June 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israel has sent a message to the Hamas terror group via Egypt ahead of the upcoming Jerusalem Day Flag March, warning that Israel will respond harshly to any provocations, Channel 12 reports.

The heavily guarded Jerusalem Day Flag March has become an increasingly combustible issue for Israel, drawing tens of thousands of national religious youth to mark the anniversary of Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War.

The annual, provocative event drives fears of aggravated tensions with Palestinians. Two years ago, the march played a role in touching off a brief war with Gaza-based terrorists, and last year, it saw sporadic clashes and hundreds of participants filmed chanting “Death to Arabs” and other racist and Islamophobic slogans.

According to the TV report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided that the march will go ahead as it did in previous years, meaning that it will go through the Muslim Quarter.

This year’s rally is scheduled to take place on Thursday May 18.

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