Thousands of Palestinian Christians and pilgrims from around the world filled Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday to celebrate the Orthodox Holy Light ceremony under a heavy Israeli police presence, angering church leaders.

• In the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies is lit

The millennial holiday, which symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus, usually brings thousands of worshipers to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians believe Jesus was buried.

But this year, the Israeli police significantly restricted access to the event for security reasons.

Unlike previous years, when up to 10,000 believers gathered at the temple, this year only 1,800 believers will be allowed inside and another 1,200 will be left outside.

Additional checkpoints around the Old City will also limit access to the area around the church.

Churches have said they will not comply with the police restrictions, which they say are part of a long-standing effort to alienate the local Christian community.

Some church leaders have expressed concern at what they describe as a lack of response to increasing acts of violence and vandalism targeting Christians and their property in Jerusalem.

Israel annexed East Jerusalem, which includes the walled Old City and its holy sites, after the 1967 Middle East war, a move not recognized by the international world. Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital.

The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to become the capital of a future independent state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is located in the center of the Christian quarter of the Old City in East Jerusalem.

After hours of waiting, the ceremony culminates when the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem emerges from the empty sealed tomb with a lit candle, a mysterious act considered an annual miracle on Holy Saturday before Orthodox Easter.

The light then spreads rapidly among the worshipers entering and exiting the darkened church.