(MENAFN- The Peninsula) An overnight arson attack damaged a revered shrine in northern Israel where Christians believe Jesus performed a miracle, and police briefly detained 16 young Jewish settlers over the incident Thursday.
The Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, is where many Christians believe Jesus fed the 5,000 in the miracle of the five loaves and two fish.
Some 5,000 people visit the site each day, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "this morning's outrageous arson attack on a church is an attack on us all."
"Those responsible for this despicable crime will face the full force of the law," he said in a statement.
A church adviser blamed Jewish extremists for the incident and police later said they had detained 16 youths from settlements in the occupied West Bank for questioning.
"In an area near the church, 16 youths were detained for investigation in order to check their involvement in the incident before dawn," police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement.
She said 10 of those detained were from Yitzhar, which is known as a bastion of extremists and where some residents have been involved in previous hate crimes.
However, Samri said later that the youths had been released without charge after providing statements to the authorities.
A member of the Roman Catholic Benedictine order, which manages the site, said one of the buildings within the compound was completely destroyed in the blaze but the church itself was not damaged.
Hebrew graffiti was found on another building within the complex, reading "Idols will be cast out" or destroyed, an AFP correspondent reported. The text is part of a common Jewish prayer.
Two people who were in the compound at the time were treated for smoke inhalation, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
Father Matthias said an external atrium was "totally destroyed" in the blaze.
"The church, thank God, is in good condition," he told AFP. "We're very happy that nothing happened to the church."
Wadie Abu Nasser, an adviser to the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land, said the arson attack would reverberate throughout the Christian world.
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