20/06/2025
Iranian Missile Damages Oldest, Second Oldest Mosque In Haifa
Foreign Minister Gideo Sa'ar informed the public 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.
Impact site following Iranian missile strike on downtown Haifa, next to the 300-year-old Zahir al-Umar Mosque, June 20 ,2025.
An Iranian missile strike, which hit Haifa on Friday afternoon, damaged the city's oldest and second-oldest mosque 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."
"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 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.
