Thousands of Israeli nationalists will march on Thursday through the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s walled Old City under heavy security, in ​an annual event marking Israel’s capture of the city’s east in ‌a war nearly six decades ago.

The parade, the main celebration of Jerusalem Day, has become a show of force for Jewish nationalists but is seen by Palestinians as a blatant ​provocation aimed at undermining their ties to the city.

“Jerusalem is our ​holy city. It is our holy city forever,” said Shira Gefen, ⁠a 53-year-old Israeli who travelled to Jerusalem from her home near Haifa for ​the event.

Israeli authorities deployed thousands of police officers, some in riot gear, in ​Jerusalem, including at Damascus Gate, the main gateway to the Old City’s historic Muslim quarter.

The police threw up barricades around the Damascus Gate area, preventing Palestinians who do not live ​in the Old City from entering. Palestinian shopkeepers in the Old City said ​they were forced to close ahead of the parade.

Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 ‌Middle ⁠East war and later annexed it, a move that the United Nations and most countries have not recognised.

The march frequently inflames tensions as ultra-nationalist Jewish groups stream through Palestinian areas of the Old City. In the past, crowds of demonstrators, ​including many youths, ​have chanted slogans ⁠such as “Death to Arabs”.

The parade’s path starts in West Jerusalem and ends at the Western Wall, a remnant of an ​ancient retaining structure revered by Jews as the Temple ​Mount, a ⁠vestige of their faith’s two ancient temples. Muslims refer to that area as Al Haram Al Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, the third holiest site in Islam.

Palestinians view ⁠the ​Jerusalem Day procession as part of a broader ​campaign to bolster Jewish presence across the city to their detriment.

They have long sought East Jerusalem ​as the capital of a future Palestinian state.