Iranian ballistic missile damages oldest, second oldest mosques in Haifa - Yuval Barnea

 

by Yuval Barnea

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that the attack had injured the Muslim clerics who were in Al Jarina Mosque at the time.

 

Impact site following Iranian missile strike on downtown Haifa, next to the 300-year-old Zahir al-Umar Mosque, June 20 ,2025.

(photo credit: IDF HOME FRONT COMMAND)

 

An Iranian missile strike, which hit Haifa on Friday afternoon, damaged the city's oldest and second-oldest mosques as it struck Haifa's downtown.

The strike damaged the Masjid Al-Saghir, built in 1761 by Zahir al-Umar, and the Al Jarina Grand Mosque of Haifa, built in 1775 but enlarged by the Ottoman Empire in 1901.

President Isaac Herzog took to X to condemn the "outrageous attack" on "a city that stands as a symbol of coexistence between Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, Circassians, and Bahá’ís."

The Al-Jarina Mosque in Haifa’s Wadi Nisnas neighborhood was struck by an Iranian missile, injuring Muslim clerics and worshippers at prayer.

This outrageous attack took place in Haifa—a city that stands as a symbol of coexistence between Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze,… pic.twitter.com/nwhNFhQoOD

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) June 20, 2025

"They try to kill Israelis of all faiths—Muslims included. We will defend all Israelis. All faiths included," he said.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar accused the Iranian regime of targeting the historic mosques and the Wadi Nisnas neighborhood. He informed the public that the attack had injured the Muslim clerics who were in Al Jarina Mosque at the time.

The Iranian regime launched a missile attack on Haifa and struck the Al-Jarina Mosque in the Wadi Nisnas neighborhood. The missile attack injured Muslim clerics who were in the mosque.
The Iranian regime is targeting Muslim, Christian, and Jewish civilians, as well as civilian… pic.twitter.com/aG9JRfyLP7

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) June 20, 2025

"The Iranian regime is targeting Muslim, Christian, and Jewish civilians, as well as civilian sites. These are war crimes," Sa'ar said.

The two mosques represent some of the oldest buildings in Haifa and date back to the founding of the modern city by the Ottoman governor of the Galilee, Zahir al-Umar, who is responsible for the rebuilding and fortifying multiple modern cities across the Galilee, including Haifa, Acre, Nazareth, Tiberias, and numerous smaller villages in the region.

Later on Friday, Sa'ar arrived at the scene of the damage to the mosque and gave a statement to foreign press.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar gives a statement to foreign press at the scene of damage to a mosque in Haifa, June 20, 2025. (credit: ERAN YARDENI)

“We see here once again the results of the Iranian strategy. The Iranian regime is deliberately targeting civilian population centers. Therefore, you can see that a pure civilian area was hit here. Specifically, in that case, a mosque," Sa'ar said.

"It's a war crime. This is clear, because according to international law, you cannot target civilian population centers. But it is also a mistake because the root of it is a lack of understanding of the Israeli society. The Israeli society is strong. It strongly supports our operation in Iran. They all want to remove the double existential threat - the nuclear threat and the missile threat. Therefore, we will continue our operation and will not stop for even one minute before we will achieve our goals," he concluded.

Yuval Barnea

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-858440

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