- Israeli man arrested for graffiti at Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
- He was caught with spray paint near the church after police reviewed security footage
- Same phrase previously sprayed on Western Wall and other city sites, linked to him
An Israeli man was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of spraying the words, "There is a Holocaust in Gaza", on one of the walls of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, police said.
The 27-year-old, a resident of Jerusalem's Ramot neighbourhood, was detained on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday after security cameras tracked him near the Old City, according to YNet News.
He was stopped close to the church with a can of spray paint in his possession. Police said footage identified him as the person who sprayed the graffiti inside the church.
The arrest comes weeks after the same phrase was sprayed on the southern section of the Western Wall and other sites across the city. Police said preliminary findings indicate the same man was responsible for other incidents, too.
Earlier, the suspect, identified as the son of an ultra-Orthodox family from the Ramot neighbourhood, was arrested but released under restrictive conditions after a court rejected a police request to extend his detention. The court cited medical documents presented by his family, who said he suffers from mental health issues.
"I am of the opinion that there is no danger in this case. It is a sad case," the judge said, as per JPost.
Police have now reopened the case, saying the recurrence of identical graffiti strengthens suspicions that the two incidents were linked. Investigators believe the man may have deliberately targeted two of Jerusalem's most prominent religious landmarks - one Jewish and one Christian.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, condemned the acts of desecration, saying, "A holy place is not a place to express protests."
Since October 7, 2023, Israel's continuous military onslaught on Gaza has killed close to 63,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza health authorities.
On Sunday, Hamas denounced Israel's reported plan to relocate Gaza residents to the south of the Strip, calling it a "new wave of genocide and displacement." The group said the planned deployment of tents and shelters was a "blatant deception" that would worsen conditions for hundreds of thousands already displaced.
