An Israeli settler attacks a church in the occupied city of Al-Quds

An Israeli settler on Thursday attacked a church in the Old City of occupied Al-Quds (Jerusalem), destroying some of its contents.

In a statement reported by Wafa News Agency, Al-Quds Governorate stated that a settler stormed into the building of the Church “The prison of Christ”, opposite to the Omariya School, broke and destroyed some of its property and contents, and tried to set it on fire before the guard in the place confronted him.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the settler’s storming of the church in Jerusalem and his attack on its contents, stressing that it is a crime that falls within the framework of the attacks and violations committed by the occupation authorities against the Palestinian people and their Christian and Islamic sanctities, and for which international law is held accountable.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said: The continuous incursions and violations of the occupation forces and settlers against Islamic and Christian holy sites in the occupied city of Jerusalem are null and illegal, and they aim to change the existing historical, legal and demographic situation, calling on the international community to provide the necessary international protection for Jerusalem in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions, and to stop the organized Israeli terrorism against the Palestinians and their sanctities.

Ramzi Khoury, the head of the Supreme Presidential Committee for the Follow-up of Church Affairs in Palestine, confirmed that the racist attack on the church constitutes a continuation of the occupation authorities and settlers’ violation of the sanctity of Christian and Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem within the framework of systematic plans to judaize the city and empty it of Palestinians, calling for pressure on the occupation authorities to stop their attacks and crimes and hold the occupation forces and settlers accountable before the international criminal courts.

For its part, the Islamic Christian Organization for the Support of Jerusalem and Holy Sites warned of the escalation of occupation plans against the occupied city of Jerusalem and its sanctities, stressing that today’s attack in full view of the international community is a desperate attempt to obliterate the Arab, Palestinian, Islamic and Christian identity of Jerusalem, leading to its Judaization.