Thursday night marked the anniversary of the death of Aharon Hacohen, the biblical priest Aaron. Hundreds marked the event with a visit to the tomb of his son, Elazar Hacohen.

The tomb is located in the notoriously hostile town of Awarta in Samaria (Shomron). Jewish graves in the town have been vandalized on numerous occasions.

The burial place of Aharon is not in Israel.

Soldiers protected visitors during the event, which included prayers for the welfare of Israel.

The visit was organized by the Samaria Regional Council and Shechem Echad. Earlier in the week the same two groups successfully organized a visit to Joseph’s Tomb (Kever Yosef) in Shechem. More than 2,000 people took part.

Samaria Regional Council head Gershon Mesika was at the Joseph’s Tomb event, and called to restore the tomb to Israeli control.