Latin Patriarch to get immediate access to Holy Sepulchre: Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday the Latin Patriarch would get "full and immediate access" to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, after police denied him entry on Palm Sunday.

"I have instructed the relevant authorities that Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch, be granted full and immediate access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem," Netanyahu tweeted on X.

Israeli police had prevented the senior Catholic cleric from entering Christianity's most sacred site to celebrate Palm Sunday mass over what Netanyahu had said were security concerns, provoking protests from the European Union and several European countries.

Netanyahu elaborated on Israel's security concerns in his post.

"Over the past several days, Iran has repeatedly targeted the holy sites of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles," he wrote.

"In one strike, missile fragments crashed meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre."

It was to protect worshippers that Israel had asked people of all faiths to "temporarily abstain" from worshipping at all the holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City, he added.