Israel targeting Christian community in Palestine - ministry

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Saturday accused Israel of targeting the Christian community in Palestine, particularly in Jerusalem.

In a statement, the ministry said it "unequivocally condemns the recent actions by Israel, the illegal occupying power, to impose taxes on churches, their institutions, and properties in the occupied city of Jerusalem through its so-called 'occupation municipalities'."

"These actions are a blatant violation of international law and the city's historical and legal 'Status Quo'," it added.

The ministry stressed that "Israel's imposition of these taxes is illegal," adding: "Israel, as an occupying power, has no sovereignty over Jerusalem."

"These unlawful measures are perceived as part of a broader strategy of extermination and ethnic cleansing that Israel is practicing against all the Palestinian people, particularly targeting the authentic Palestinian Christian presence in the Holy Land, most notably in Jerusalem," said the ministry.

The ministry called "upon all countries to support the positions of the churches and the State of Palestine and to intervene to halt these serious violations of international law, UN Security Council resolutions, and the historical and legal Status Quo."

The ministry's statements were issued in reaction to Israel notifying several churches of "legal" measures aimed at compelling them to pay taxes.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

Over 37,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 86,800 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.