US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem held a joint press conference on Sunday in occupied East Jerusalem with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. The visit came days after an attack in Washington in which two members of the Israeli embassy were killed.

Earlier that day, Noem visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Her trip coincided with preparations for Jerusalem Day—an annual Israeli celebration commemorating the 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee tweeted on Sunday that Noem would participate in the festivities. She also met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, offering what she described as the United States’ “unwavering support” for both the Israeli premier and the state of Israel, and praised Netanyahu’s “conduct of the war”. Noem also voiced support for his plan to extend the border wall along Egypt.

Later in the day, thousands of Israelis marched through the narrow streets of Jerusalem’s Old City to the Western Wall, passing through the Muslim Quarter while waving Israeli flags. The event, long a flashpoint, was heavily policed. Last year’s Jerusalem Day march saw violence against Palestinians and journalists, with marchers chanting anti-Arab slogans and plastering stickers promoting the ultranationalist ideology of Rabbi Meir Kahane, including calls to expel Palestinians from Gaza. Eighteen people were arrested for violent offences.

Meanwhile, Israeli settlers, accompanied by soldiers, entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday and performed Talmudic rituals. The mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. In a statement on Telegram, Hamas condemned what it called “escalating incursions” and “epic prostration rituals”, referring to scenes of settlers lying on the ground and praying audibly in the compound’s courtyards.

Hamas said the growing frequency of such acts constituted “a continuation of the religious war targeting the city of Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque”.

Al Jazeera.