Published on •Updated
Israeli police said on Friday that they had arrested a 36-year-old man caught on video attacking a Catholic nun in the latest incident near Jerusalem’s Old City.
Police said the unnamed man was arrested after the attack near David’s Tomb, a holy site outside Zion’s Gate on the southern side of the Old City, “on suspicion of a racially motivated attack,” and remained in custody.
Police video showed the nun bruised and the attacker wearing tzitzit, a fringed undergarment worn by some observant Jewish men. The nun, a French national, suffered injuries including a bruise on her forehead, as seen in an image posted by Israeli police on X.
The suspect is set to appear before the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for a hearing on the extension of his detention, according to the Times of Israel.
Israeli police said in a social media post about the man arrested for attacking the nun that it “treats any attack on members of the clergy and religious communities with the utmost seriousness and applies a policy of zero tolerance to all acts of violence.”
“In a city sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, we remain committed to protecting all communities and ensuring those responsible for violence are held accountable,” the police stated.
Olivier Poquillon, the director of the French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research, said the nun was a researcher at the school. He called the attack an “act of sectarian violence” in a post on X.
The Old City in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem is a centuries-old walled enclave and home to some of the holiest sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims.
It is a flashpoint for tensions as access to the sites is tied to the historic and political claims that lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Religious groups have documented a rise in harassment of Christians, including assaults and spitting, often by Jewish Orthodox yeshiva students which have persisted despite repeated rabbinic rebuke, Israeli outlets reported.
Wadie Abunassar, media coordinator of the Holy Land Christian Forum, called attacks targeting Christians a growing phenomenon. He attributed the quick response to the attack on the nun to the fact that it was caught on video.
He said he felt “great anger on the system and great sadness because I feel that this will not end anytime soon.”
The arrest comes weeks after Israeli authorities limited access for worship to Muslims and Christians at holy sites, citing security concerns over the Iran war.
Israel also drew international criticism after the Catholic Church’s Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, was blocked from entering the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promptly granted Cardinal Pizzaballa “full and immediate access” to the Christian holy site so he can “hold services as he wishes” after the incident became public.
Netanyahu also condemned the desecration of a statue of Jesus Christ that was carried out by an IDF soldier in a southern Lebanese village in mid-April, another recent incident that sparked wide condemnation.
Additional sources • AP