Jerusalem / PNN/

Two Israeli settlers tried this morning to attack the Church of Gethsemane in occupied Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Governorate of Jerusalem.

The Governorate said two Israeli settlers broke into the church and tried to sabotage the content inside the church, but were confronted and foiled by a Palestinian man who was present at the church.

Earlier this year, Israeli settlers vandalised a Christian cemetery in occupied Jerusalem over the New Year holidays, smashing crosses and knocking down headstones on more than 30 graves.

In December 2021, patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem warned that "Christians have become the target of frequent and sustained attacks by fringe radical groups", referring to Israeli far-right activists.

Fot its part the Higher Presidential Committee of Church Affairs has strongly condemned the failed attack by Israeli settlers earlier this morning on the Church of Gethsemane in occupied Jerusalem.

Chairman of the Committee, Ramzi Khoury, said in a press statement, “The extremist and fascist Israeli government is the sponsor of all the crimes committed by settlers against the Palestinian people and against Islamic and Christian sanctities. These attacks coincide with the imminent arrival of the holy month of Ramadan, Palm Sunday and Holy Saturday.”

He added that the frequent Israeli incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the continuing attacks on churches are a violation of international law, international legitimacy and human rights, which guarantee freedom of worship and do not tolerate infringement on sanctities.

Khoury urged the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and the churches of the world to take urgent and immediate action to stop all Israeli racist and extremist practices, to provide protection for the Palestinian people and Islamic and Christian sanctities, and to ensure the implementation of relevant international laws.