A Catholic priest was attacked near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem

In Jerusalem, a group of religious Jewish extremists reportedly insulted and spat on Catholic priest Firas Abedrabbo. The incident occurred on June 10, 2026, in the Old City, near Damascus Gate. According to Persecuted Church Alerts, the police did not make any arrests and, according to the victim, tried to dissuade the priest from filing an official complaint.

According to media reports, Roman Catholic priest Firas Abedrabbo was leaving a restaurant after lunch with friends who are human rights activists when he was approached by three young men who identified as religious Jews. For several minutes, they allegedly spat in the priest’s direction, shouted insults, and made obscene gestures.

The harassment only stopped after the priest’s companions left the restaurant and intervened. Despite the complaint filed, law enforcement authorities, according to the report, did not detain the suspects. Moreover, it is alleged that police officers tried to persuade the victim not to file an official report about the attack.

The article also states that since the beginning of 2026, 88 cases of persecution of Christians have been recorded in Israel, 63 of them in the last three months. The incidents mentioned include not only spitting and verbal abuse, but also acts of vandalism, desecration of graves, and arson attacks on Christian sites.

It is noted that Israeli authorities typically refer to such actions as “isolated acts by a minority.” At the same time, representatives of the Christian clergy in Jerusalem state that such harassment has become a daily occurrence. Lawyers, for their part, point to a climate of impunity: according to the data cited, over the past decade, 19 out of 25 complaints regarding attacks were closed by the police without criminal charges being filed.

It should be recalled that an attack on a French Catholic nun took place on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, which sparked a widespread international reaction and serious concern regarding the safety of Christian communities in the Holy Land.