Israeli authorities are preparing a plan to allow religious leaders to access the Church of the Holy Sepulchre “in the coming days,” the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on social media. In recent days, the office wrote, “Iran has repeatedly targeted with ballistic missiles the holy sites of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem. In one attack, missile fragments fell a few meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.”

Plan for access to the Holy Sepulchre

As a result, “Israel has temporarily asked worshippers of all faiths not to visit the holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City to protect them,” the prime minister’s office said. Today, the office added, “out of particular concern for his safety, the Jerusalem Police prevented Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pizzaballa from celebrating Mass this morning at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.” “There was no malicious intent in this decision, only concern for his safety and that of his entourage,” the prime minister’s office said.

However, “given the sacred week before Easter for Christians around the world, Israeli security forces are preparing a plan to allow religious leaders to hold services at the holy site in the coming days.”