Warning follows Jewish man\u2019s arrest over brutal attack in which a nun was pushed and kicked in Jerusalem this week.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Published On 1 May 2026<\/span>1 May 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The head of a Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem has condemned a brutal attack on a nun in the city earlier in the week and warned of growing concerns over the future for Christians living in the Holy Land.<\/p>\n Archbishop Atallah Hanna said on Facebook that \u201cthe attack on a nun in the city of Jerusalem comes amid escalating violations against Christian institutions in the city\u201d.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n He added that \u201cthis reflects increasing concerns about the future of the historic Christian presence in the Holy Land\u201d.<\/p>\n In his post, which was accompanied by a video, he warned that such attacks \u201care no longer isolated incidents, but part of a recurring pattern that threatens the Christian presence,\u201d calling for international action to stop them.<\/p>\n On Thursday, Israeli police released a video showing what witnesses said was an attack by a Jewish man on a French nun in Jerusalem on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Video footage showed the man following the nun, forcibly pushing her to the ground, causing an injury to her head, then briefly walking away before returning to kick her as she lay on the ground, before bystanders intervened.<\/p>\n According to The Times of Israel, police said they had arrested a Jewish man suspected of assaulting the nun in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n \u201cThe suspect, a 36-year-old male, was identified and subsequently arrested by police,\u201d the police said in a statement on Wednesday, adding it viewed with \u201cutmost severity\u201d any violent act \u201cdriven by potentially racist motives and directed toward members of the clergy\u201d.<\/p>\n Father Olivier Poquillon, director of Jerusalem\u2019s French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research, told the AFP news agency the 48-year-old nun is a researcher at the institution and did not wish to speak publicly.<\/p>\n Attacks on Christian communities in occupied East Jerusalem and Israel have risen in recent years, according to the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, which tracks such incidents.<\/p>\n Churches in Jerusalem have repeatedly called on Israeli authorities to act decisively to put a stop to them.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2017-06-08T131939Z_1189275883_RC11B0FE7F20_RTRMADP_3_GULF-QATAR-JAZEERA-1714943623.jpg?resize=96%2C96&quality=80)
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