Jerusalem in 1967 and 2017

This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Six-Day War. In less than a week, Israel seized control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Since then, throughout countless attempts to establish peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, the Occupied Territories have remained a bone of contention.

  • Mount of Olives then: if it weren't for the ancient Ottoman city wall and the shrine in the background, viewers might not realise this is the same site. The picture was taken on 7 June 1967, when the peak was this brigade's command post at the height of the Six-Day War, or Arab-Israeli War
  • Mount of Olives today: the old City Wall and the gold-domed Muslim shrine, the Dome of the Rock, are visible in the background from the mountain ridge which lies to the east of the Old City. The Old Jewish Cemetery, situated on the western and southern slopes of the ridge, are in an area once named for its many olive groves. It is the oldest continually used Jewish cemetery in the world
  • Al-Aqsa mosque then: the name Al-Aqsa translates to "the farthest mosque". It is also Jerusalem's biggest mosque. Israel has strict control over the area after conquering all of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and regaining access to its religious sites. Leaders at the time agreed that the Temple Mount would be administered by an Islamic religious trust known as the Waqf
  • Al-Aqsa mosque today: Al-Aqsa, with its silver-coloured dome and vast hall, is located on Temple Mount. Muslims call the mosque the "Noble Sanctuary", but it is also the most sacred site in Judaism, a place where two biblical temples were believed to have stood. Moreover, it remains the third holiest site in Sunni Islam, after Mecca and Medina. There have long been tensions over control of the entire Temple Mount area
  • Damascus Gate then: the gate itself – what we see today was built by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1537 – has changed little over the past fifty years. Seven Gates allow entrance to the Old City and its separate quarters
  • Damascus Gate today: the historic Gate, named in English for the fact that the road from there heads north to Damascus, is a busy main entrance to Palestinian East Jerusalem and to a bustling Arab bazaar. Over the past two years, it has frequently been the site of security incidents and Palestinian attacks on Israelis
  • Old City then: this picture was taken in July 1967, but 50 years later, some things in the Old City haven't changed at all. Boys like the one in the photo balancing a tray of sesame pastries – called bagels – still roam the streets of the Old City today, hawking the sweet breads sprinkled with sesame seeds for about a euro apiece
  • Old City today: Jerusalem's vibrant Old City, a UNESCO world Heritage Site since 1981, is home to sites important to many different religions: the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque for Muslims, Temple Mount and the Western Wall for Jews and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians. Busy and colourful, it is a great place for shopping and food and a top attraction for visitors
  • Western Wall then: the Western Wall is also known as the 'Wailing' Wall, a term considered derogatory and not used by Jews. The above photo of people flocking to the Wall to pray was taken on 1 September 1967, just weeks after Israel regained control of the site following the Six-Day-War. It had been expelled from the Old City 19 years earlier during Jordan's occupation
  • Western Wall today: this section of ancient limestone wall in Jerusalem's Old City is the western support wall of the Temple Mount. It is the most religious site for Jewish people, who come here to pray and perhaps to place a note in a crack in the wall. There is a separate section for men and for women, but it is free and open to everyone all year round – after the obligatory security check