Balkans | Jewish settlers attack a church in occupied East Jerusalem

A Jewish settler was arrested for attacking the “Church of the Tomb of Saint Mary” compound in the Mount of Olives area of ​​occupied East Jerusalem.

Bilal Abu Nab, the church guard who intervened in the attack, spoke to A.A. about the accident.

Abu Nab said: “The taxi driver who brought the settlers told me that the settlers took off their kippahs and entered St. Mary’s Church with their belongings.” He said.

He stated that upon his arrival at the church, one of the attackers held the door and shouted, while the other attacked the people in the church with an iron bar in his hand. Abu Nab said that one of the attackers was injured during the incident. They interfered with the people in the church.

Abu Nab said that the taxi driver arrested the other Jewish settler, indicating that the police arrived late at the scene, while the other attacker fled.

Abu Nab indicated that the attackers were Jewish settlers, and they cursed in Hebrew during the attack.

Israeli police: the attacker is mentally ill

A written statement by the occupation police stated that some people in a church on the Mount of Olives threatened worshipers with an iron rod.

It was reported that the suspect, who threatened the worshipers with an iron rod, was a 27-year-old from southern Israel who was mentally ill. The statement indicated in the statement that there were no injuries or damage to the church as a result of the accident.

The statement stressed that “the assault on holy places and all kinds of violence will be acted resolutely, and no concessions will be made to prosecute the perpetrators.”

The statement said the attacker was arrested and will be brought to court today.

On the other hand, a source from the occupation police spokesman claimed that the suspect is a “Christian with a mental illness.”

Communication from the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the United States

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack by issuing a written statement, saying that the incident is “the latest example of Israel’s targeting of Christian and Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.”

The ministry stressed that the recurrence of settler attacks falls within the scope of “Israel’s crimes in Israel and the Judaization of Jerusalem.”

The statement called for “an effective international and American intervention to stop the Israeli occupation and the attacks of fanatical Jewish settlers and the Palestinian people in general, and Jerusalem and its sanctities in particular.”

Settler attacks on Christians and their holy places in East Jerusalem

Recently, Jewish settler violence against the Christian community and holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem has escalated.

Last month, a fanatical Jewish settler attacked the historic church located on Al-Qassas Road in occupied East Jerusalem. The settler had broken the wooden statue of Jesus Christ, made in the 1920s, with a hammer in hand.

Churches and leaders of the international Christian community in Jerusalem’s Old City have issued statements accusing the Israeli government of indifference to attacks by fanatical Jewish settlers on holy sites, clergy and the public.

In the coalition government formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of 2022 in Israel, names such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, who are supporters of Jewish settlers, known for their racist actions and rhetoric against the Palestinians, have been appointed to critical positions.

Both names have been implicated in acts of violence committed by Jewish settlers in the past.

AA