For the 18th year in a row, thousands marched around the ancient walls of the holy city of Jerusalem Saturday night in an event held by the Women in Green movement.

Participants began the march by reading the Book of Lamentations in front of the American Consulate on Agron Street in Jerusalem, and then proceeded to circle the walls of the Old City.

The march, held to mark the start of the fast to commemorate the destruction of the First and Second Jewish Temples in Jerusalem on the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, culminated in prayers at the Western Wall (Kotel).

Among the thousands of marchers were such notables as Israel Prize laureate and former Deputy Minister Geula Cohen, Coalition Chairman MK Ze’ev Elkin, MK Aryeh Eldad, and MK Michael Ben Ari.

Co-chairs of the Women in Green movement Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katzover told Arutz Sheva, “The real satisfaction was in seeing the multitudes of people from Israel and around the world, marching on the night of Tisha B’Av, voting with their feet and expressing their loyalty to sovereignty over Jerusalem, saying, ‘Enough!’”