In the latest of several attacks on a congregation in East Jerusalem, young men with ties to a Palestinian militant group wired shut a church door and sprayed a gaseous substance at those inside hours before dawn on September 29.
No one was injured, as those sleeping or keeping vigil fled into a hallway before the chemical spray could impair breathing, but it was the second gas attack in two weeks, said Living Bread Church leader Karen Dunham. On September 17, a man passing by the church’s patio area opened a plastic bag containing a small gas canister. Within seconds, people on the porch were unable to breathe and fled into the church building, only to find that someone had pumped the same chemical spray into the worship hall.
Dunham, who suffered a broken wrist in a September 21 assault by young men from the same group, said the attacks aim at stopping the church ministry and forcing the congregation to abandon the property. She believes the assailants are part of a criminal group trying to seize the property.
