EU denounces Israel for blocking Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch from entering Holy Sepulchre

Brussels: EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas denounced a “violation of religious freedom” after Israel stopped the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass in the Church of the Sepulchre.

“The decision by Israeli police to bar Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday constitutes a violation of religious freedom and long-standing protections governing holy sites,” she said.

“Freedom of worship in Jerusalem must be fully guaranteed, without exception, for all faiths. Jerusalem’s multi-religious character must be protected,” she added in a social media post.

Earlier, Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Sunday that nine people were killed in Israeli strikes in the south of the Palestinian territory.

On Saturday evening, “Israeli strikes hit police posts… in the Al-Mawasi area” killing eight, said Mohammed al-Mughair, an official at the agency which operates under Hamas authority.

Another person was killed on Sunday “after being hit by fire from Israeli forces” at a roundabout in Khan Yunis, Mughair told AFP.

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, a young girl was among the dead on Saturday night.

AFP images showed bodies being transported from the morgue of Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis then laid out on the ground, wrapped in white shrouds.

During the funerals, one woman was screaming, surrounded by crying men and children.

“Each day, the enemy hunts down and kills,” said Ahmed al-Sufi, a Palestinian who had lost family.

Asked about the strikes by AFP, the Israeli military did not immediately respond.

It did, however, issue a statement in which it said it had “eliminated” overnight “a cell of 10 armed terrorists from Hamas operating in the centre” of Gaza, as well as another person the day before who had repeatedly crossed the yellow line behind which Israeli forces in Gaza have withdrawn.

Israel and Hamas continue to accuse each other of violating the ceasefire in place since October 10 that largely halted two years of war in the territory.