Tens of thousands celebrated Yom Yerushalyim on Wednesday, marking the 57th Jerusalem Day – the liberation of the Holy City from Jordanian occupation during the June 1967 Six Day War.

Thousands upon thousands of flag-waving Israelis marched through Jerusalem on Wednesday, which included passing through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City – under heavy Israeli security.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the march sent a message to Hamas. “We are delivering a message from here to Hamas: Jerusalem is ours. Sha’ar Shechem is ours,” he told marchers at the start of the rally. “And with Hashem’s help total victory is ours,” Ben-Gvir said, referring to the war in Gaza, which he has demanded that Israel continue until Hamas is defeated. At the insistence of Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police, the march is following its traditional route, entering the Muslim Quarter of the Old City through Sha’ar Shechem and ending at the Kosel.