Israeli Police Arrest 36-Year-Old Man After French Nun Attacked Near Jerusalem’s Old City

A French nun was attacked in Jerusalem on Tuesday, in an incident Israeli police described as a racially motivated assault and in which video showed the attacker pushing her to the ground and then kicking her while she lay on the stone.

“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”

Al Jazeera

Multiple outlets described the location as near the Tomb of David on Mount Zion, adjacent to Jerusalem’s Old City, with the BBC noting the assault took place as she walked past the Cenacle.

Al Jazeera

The BBC reported that Israeli police arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of racially motivated assault, while Reuters did not appear in the provided material for this event.

The BBC said the attacker was wearing a Jewish kippah and tzitzit, and it described footage in which the man initially walked away before returning to kick her.

The French Consulate in Jerusalem condemned the “aggression,” and Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the incident a “shameful act” on X.

In a separate account, Vatican News said the director of the French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, Father Olivier Poquillon, wrote that “The scourge of hatred is a shared challenge,” referring to the assault that took place on April 28 near the area of King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion.

The New Haven Register (AP) similarly placed the attack Wednesday near David’s Tomb outside Zion’s Gate on the southern side of the Old City, and said the suspect remained in custody after the arrest.

The nun attack was reported as occurring amid a wider pattern of harassment and violence against Christians in Jerusalem, with outlets linking the incident to recent cases involving Christian clergy and pilgrims.

The BBC said the assault came “amid a recent rise in harassment of Christian clergy and pilgrims by Jewish extremists in Jerusalem's Old City,” and it described regular cases in recent years including spitting and aggressive behavior toward those wearing Christian religious dress or symbols.

Al-Nahar

The BBC also cited a 2025 report by the Rossing Center describing a “recent surge in overt animosity towards Christianity,” attributing it to “a continued deepening of polarisation and ultra-nationalist political trends.”

Al Jazeera framed the broader context through Archbishop Atallah Hanna’s warning that attacks “are no longer isolated incidents, but part of a recurring pattern that threatens the Christian presence,” and it said the attack on the nun came “amid escalating violations against Christian institutions in the city”.

Several outlets placed the incident within a continuing dispute over access and status at holy places, with the BBC noting church leaders accuse Israel of trying to change the status quo at holy places.

The BBC also recalled that in March Israeli police prevented the top Roman Catholic leader in Jerusalem from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for a private Mass on Palm Sunday, with the Latin Patriarchate saying it was “the first time in centuries” that had happened.

Al Jazeera added that Israeli police released a video showing what witnesses said was an attack by a Jewish man on a French nun in Jerusalem on Tuesday, and it said police arrested a Jewish man suspected of assaulting the nun.

Reactions to the assault came from church leaders, French diplomatic representatives, Israeli officials, and academics, with multiple outlets quoting calls for accountability and swift action.

“- Published Shocking footage has emerged showing a French nun being attacked – apparently by a religious Jewish man – in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem earlier this week”

BBC

The BBC reported that Father Olivier Poquillon, director of the French Biblical and Archaeological School where the nun is a researcher, wrote on X that she was the "victim of an unprovoked assault" and added, "We strongly condemn this act of sectarian violence and expect the authorities to act swiftly and decisively."

The BBC also quoted Israeli police saying they treat “any attack on members of the clergy and religious communities with the utmost seriousness and applies a policy of zero tolerance to all acts of violence.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry, as quoted by the BBC, said, "This shameful act stands in direct contradiction to the values of respect, coexistence, and religious freedom upon which Israel is founded" and added that it remains committed to protecting freedom of religion and freedom of worship.

Euronews similarly quoted the police statement that it “treats any attack on members of the clergy and religious communities with the utmost seriousness and applies a policy of zero tolerance to all acts of violence.”

Vatican News reported that Father Poquillon thanked “those who came to help during the attack, and also diplomats, academics, and all those who offered support,” and it said the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized a “firm policy against violence and its determination to bring offenders to justice swiftly.”

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Faculty of Humanities condemned the assault as “part of a troubling trend of growing hostility toward the Christian community and its symbols,” according to the Guardian and TF1 Info, and the Guardian quoted the university saying, “An attack on its scholars is an attack on the global scientific community.”

While all outlets described a video-recorded assault on a French nun near Mount Zion and the arrest of a 36-year-old suspect, they differed in emphasis, including the language used to characterize the violence and the details highlighted about the legal process.

The BBC foregrounded the police framing of the case, reporting that Israeli police arrested the suspect on Wednesday and released a video of him being handcuffed by officers, and it noted that no charges had yet been brought.

BFM

The Guardian also emphasized the police response, quoting that the force would “continue to act with a heavy hand and zero tolerance in order to preserve and maintain the proper and safe fabric of life for all ethnicities and religions in the city of Jerusalem”.

TF1 Info and Le Parisien both highlighted the violent footage and the sequence of events, with TF1 describing that the suspect was examined for “all possible motives,” including that of a nationalist act, and Le Parisien stating that a video broadcast on Friday by Al Jazeera showed the man pushing the nun and then kicking her while she was already down.

Euronews added procedural detail, saying the suspect is set to appear before the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for a hearing on the extension of his detention, citing the Times of Israel.

The New Haven Register (AP) and Independent both described the suspect as unnamed and said he remained in custody, while the Independent stated the arrest was made “on suspicion of a racially motivated attack” and that the suspect remains detained.

Al Jazeera, by contrast, framed the incident through the lens of Christian institutional vulnerability, quoting Archbishop Atallah Hanna’s Facebook post that the attack comes “amid escalating violations against Christian institutions in the city” and warning that attacks “are no longer isolated incidents.”

The immediate next steps described across the reporting centered on custody, court proceedings, and the broader question of whether deterrence and prosecutions will follow similar incidents.

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CNews

Euronews said the suspect is set to appear before the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for a hearing on the extension of his detention, while the Dhaka Tribune did not appear in the provided material for this Gaza-related set of articles.

CNN

Vatican News said the man “remains in custody,” and it described Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizing a “firm policy against violence and its determination to bring offenders to justice swiftly.”

TF1 Info reported that police planned to ask the court for an extension of the suspect's custody, and it quoted Olivier Poquillon saying the École Biblique would “watch carefully the civil and criminal judicial proceedings.”

Beyond the legal process, the New Haven Register (AP) and Independent both included a warning from Wadie Abunassar, coordinator of the Holy Land Christian Forum, about deterrence and the possibility that suspects are not prosecuted or are released quickly.

The New Haven Register quoted Abunassar saying, “Many times in such cases there are no arrests and if there are arrests, sometimes after one or two days, (suspects) are released,” and it added, “In some cases, the police do not recommend the prosecution to file charges or to indict them.”

The Guardian added that the Religious Freedom Data Centre recorded 31 incidents of harassment of Christians in the first three months of this year, and it said the violent attack was “highly unusual,” while also noting that Orthodox congregations tend not to report incidents.