Israelis march through Jerusalem's Old City

By Associated Press In Jerusalem | China Daily | Updated: 2016-06-07 08:19

Thousands of Israelis marched through Jerusalem's Old City amid high tensions on Sunday to commemorate the capture of the city's eastern sector in the 1967 Mideast war.

The marchers, waving Israeli flags and chanting, paraded through the ancient center, which is home to the city's most sensitive holy sites.

The march snaked through the heart of the Old City's Muslim Quarter, where revelers danced and blew horns.

The march comes amid a nearly nine monthlong wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

In a sign of the strain, Israel's Supreme Court earlier Sunday limited the march's duration in a bid to "cause minimum friction with Muslim residents," and police beefed up security to ensure calm.

But no incidents were reported by nightfall, police said, adding that more than 30,000 marchers participated.

Police took extra precautions because the march may have coincided with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began on Monday.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and considers it part of its eternal, undivided capital.

The Palestinians want the eastern sector as the capital of their hoped for state.

The future status of Jerusalem is among the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli authorities said they had obtained "high value information" about the Hamas militant group's tunnel network in the Gaza Strip after arresting a 17-year-old fighter.

The Israeli military said that the teen was nabbed last month after crossing a border fence and entering Israel.

Israel said it learned that Hamas' military tunnel network allows it to move fighters throughout Gaza "exclusively underground." The network also includes "rest quarters" for its elite forces.

Information also was obtained on Hamas' methods for digging tunnels, communications means and the locations of shafts to allow units to infiltrate Israel, the military said.

Hamas used tunnels to attack Israel during a 50-day war in 2014.