GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Runners from around the world will convene next week in Bethlehem to take part in the 7th International Palestine Marathon.

The marathon, organized by the Supreme Council for Sport and Youth Affairs in cooperation with the Bethlehem municipality, will take place on March 22. It was officially recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 2017 in what Palestinians considered a major achievement. It's another international win for Bethlehem, which was selected in in 2015 as the Capital of Arab Culture for 2020 by a UNESCO-affiliated committee of Arab Ministers of Culture in Qatar.

Ever since the first race in April 2013 brought together 213 Palestinians and 218 foreigners from 21 countries, the marathon has been a way to protest the checkpoints in the city, call for freedom of movement in the West Bank and draw attention to the Palestinian situation. This year’s marathon, with 7,000 runners expected, also aims to raise international awareness of the cultural heritage and political landscape of this historical city of Bethlehem, five miles south of Jerusalem.

The marathon will pass through the Aida and Dheisheh refugee camps in the city so runners can see how Palestinian refugees who migrated from their cities and villages from within Israel in 1948 are living.