Palestinian Christians march through occupied Jerusalem for Good Friday

Thousands of Palestinian and foreign Christian pilgrims and clergy members marched through the ancient stone alleys of Jerusalem’s Israeli-occupied Old City, retracing Jesus’ path to crucifixion in observation of Good Friday.

The faithful carried wooden crosses high on their shoulders and sang hymns to mark one of Christianity’s most solemn and sacred days.

Worshippers from all over the world marched slowly along the Via Dolorosa, the cobblestone path that cuts through the limestone-walled Old City, where tradition says Jesus bore the cross to his crucifixion. 

The pilgrims stopped at several points on the way, re-enacting symbolic moments from Jesus’ story.

The procession culminates at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe Jesus was buried before his resurrection on what is celebrated as Easter Sunday.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

It considers the entire city its capital, while the Palestinians see the eastern sector as the capital of their future state.