Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Jerusalem on Tuesday that Iran is deliberately targeting civilians and holy sites after missile fragments damaged the Church of the Holy Sepulchre’s roof in the Old City, where the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem is headquartered.
Sa’ar spoke with Patriarch Theophilos III a day after an Iranian-launched missile exploded over Israel’s capital, with debris falling on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Armenian Patriarchate, the Jewish Quarter and the Temple Mount near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
He expressed solidarity with church officials and accused Tehran of firing on “religious buildings of all faiths,” saying the attacks endanger Christian, Muslim and Jewish sites, while Israel acts to protect worshippers of all religions in its capital.
“The Iranian regime is deliberately firing at civilian populations and harming religious buildings of all faiths,” Sa’ar said.
Watch: The Iranian regime just fired at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/JqSlp0vneI
— Oren Marmorstein (@OrenMarmorstein) March 16, 2026
