Church where Jesus is believed to have performed the miracle set on fire in arson attack

The Galilee church where Jesus was believed to have performed the miracle of feeding the 5,000 has been set alight in a suspected arson attack, the Daily Mail reports.

Hebrew graffiti was also scrawled across the walls of Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish which denounces the worship of 'false gods'.

An adviser to the Catholic Church has now blamed Jewish extremists for the 'deplorable' attack after Israeli police said there is a 'strong possibility' the fire was started deliberately.

The current structure was built on the remains of a fifth-century Byzantine church at Tabgha on the shores of the Sea of Galilee -  where many Christians believe Jesus fed 5,000 followers with just five loaves and two fish.

Police confirmed there was extensive damage to both inside and outside the building after the fire broke out in the middle of last night.

A monk and a church volunteer were hospitalised from smoke inhalation, but the incredibly, the prayer area was unaffected.

The nationalist crimes unit of the Israeli police's West Bank settlement division is now investigating the incident. 

Father Gregory Collins, head of the Order of Saint Benedict in Israel, which maintains the site, said more than 5,000 people visit the church daily. He said the church would be closed for the next three days due to the fire damage.

“It's deplorable, absolutely deplorable. I consider such an attack to be not just an attack on a religious site, on a sanctuary, but also on one of the most visited places in Israel,' Collins said.

“It is also an attack on freedom of speech, democracy and the right to live here.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the incident and ordered the head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency to 'to conduct a full and speedy investigation.'

“This morning's outrageous arson attack on a church is an attack on us all. In Israel freedom of worship is one of our core values and is guaranteed under the law,' Netanyahu said.

“Those responsible for this despicable crime will face the full force of the law. Hate and intolerance have no place in our society.'

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said authorities would make every effort to apprehend those responsible.

“Such terrible desecration of an ancient and holy place of prayer is an attack on the very fabric of life in our country, where people of different faiths seek to live together in harmony and mutual tolerance and respect,” Rivlin said.

The church's Byzantine mosaic floor, and the religious significance of the site, draws thousands of visitors of all faiths each year making one of the most popular stops for Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land.

Father Matthias Karl, a German monk from the church, said a souvenir shop, an office for pilgrims and a meeting room were badly damaged, and bibles and prayer books were destroyed in the fire.

He said: “It's totally destroyed. The fire was very active.”

A passage from a Jewish prayer, calling for the elimination of idol worship, was also found scrawled in red spray paint on a wall outside the church after the arson attack

Wadie Abu Nasser, an adviser to the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land, said the apparent arson attack would reverberate throughout the Christian world.

“Israel's global image will be harmed,” he told Israeli public radio.

'When you put one and one together, between the graffiti and the arson, you can reach a conclusion regarding the potential suspects.”

Officers had initially arrested 16 Jewish seminary students from West Bank settlements in connection with the fire but all the youths have since been released.

Their lawyer, Itamar Ben Gvir, told Israeli Army Radio the police had no evidence against the youths and that they were under suspicion simply for looking like young settlers.

In recent years, mosques and churches have been targeted by vandals in similar attacks. They are often attributed to extremist Jews in West Bank settlements.

Such attacks are widely condemned across the political spectrum in Israel.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely condemned yesterday's church burning and said Israel respects freedom of worship for all religions.