A group of Israeli settlers, led by a far-right Israeli member of parliament Itamar Ben Gvir, rallied in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem on 2 March.

Israeli authorities gave the group the go ahead to hold the provocative event despite objections from members of the community and local leaders who expressed concerns that the rally by the settlers was going to lead to another outbreak of violence in the flashpoint neighborhood.

The group led by Ben Gvir gathered outside the home of a Palestinian family that is facing an eminent eviction from their home.  They waved Israeli flags and chanted anti-Palestinian slogans.

The rally forced local Palestinian families to intervene leading to clashes between the two sides. Local media reports said several people sustained light injuries.

Ben Gvir, the leader of the far-right ultra-nationalist party Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), has for weeks been carrying out a sit-in outside the Salem family home. In February he set up a makeshift office in the neighborhood in a move he said was a protest against what he called the failure by Israeli authorities to protect the settler families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

This move has led to several rounds of clashes between settler groups and Palestinian youths. The mobs of settlers have vandalized Palestinian owned homes and vehicles. The residents have accused the police of colluding with the settler groups behind the wave of violence.

Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movements have warned that the conduct of the settler groups is tantamount to “playing with fire.” It further urged all Palestinians in the West Bank to mobilize themselves and offer solidarity to the residents of Sheikh Jarrah.

Meanwhile on 2 March, Israeli occupation forces attacked the funeral of a Palestinian youth who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers on 1 March. The soldiers fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets at the Palestinians who had gathered at the Arroub refugee camp on the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron to mourn Ammar Abu Afifeh.

Afifeh was the third Palestinian youth to be killed by Israeli soldiers within the first 24 hours of March.

Watch: Ammar Shafiq Abu Afifeh, from Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron city, was yesterday shot by Israeli soldiers and killed at the entrance of Beit Fajjar.#FreePalestine #IsraeliTerrorism pic.twitter.com/qAOfXcQB6C

— Wafa News Agency – English (@WAFANewsEnglish) March 2, 2022

A statement by the Israeli military said Afifeh was shot dead after he and his friend approached a memorial site near an Israeli settlement.