Ramallah, May 18 (RHC)-- Clashes have broken out between Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem during a rally on the occasion of what the Tel Aviv regime calls the Jerusalem Day.

Violence erupted near the Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday as Israeli hardliners marched to mark the 48th anniversary of the regime's occupation of East Jerusalem. Israeli police intervened to disperse the crowds.

The confrontations left two Israeli officers injured. Two Palestinians were also detained by Israeli forces. People are participating in the march "with the support of an extremist" regime, AFP quoted a Palestinian woman, Muna Barbar.

Meanwhile, the director of the al-Aqsa mosque said the compound was stormed by more than 160 Israelis ahead of the march. Israel has tried to change the demographic makeup of Jerusalem over the past decades by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population.

Over half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank including East Jerusalem in 1967.