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Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa started a visit to Berlin on Monday for talks on the Middle East war, rebuilding his country and the return of refugees, with critics saying his record on human rights is being ignored. 

On his first trip to Germany since ousting his country's longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, Sharaa met his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday morning before talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt.

Europe's top economy is home to the largest Syrian diaspora in the European Union at more than a million, many of whom arrived during the peak of the migrant influx in 2015-2016.

Sharaa, 43, a former Islamist rebel leader, has managed to build relations with Western governments and made several overseas trips, including to the United States, France and Russia.

As a result, many international sanctions on Syria have been lifted to help the country rebuild after a bloody 14-year civil war.

Sharaa told a foreign ministry forum in Berlin that the country had experienced a "huge amount of destruction" during its long conflict, saying that Syrians "want to catch up with the rest of the world" as Germany did after World War II.

He pointed to investment opportunities in Syria's energy, transport and tourism sectors, describing his homeland as very diverse and with "a great wealth of human resources".

"We stand with Syria," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, pledging to support reconstruction efforts. "The Syrians deserve a chance, and we want to help ensure that this opportunity is well utilised."

Sharaa also suggested that he would like to see some of the Syrians who fled to Germany return to help with reconstruction.

"They have studied at German universities, acquired modern expertise that German companies have," he said. 

- 'No grounds for asylum' -

Rights campaigners have criticised the visit, pointing to Sharaa's Islamist past and Syria's ongoing violence and instability.

Protesters gathered in front of the foreign ministry on Monday waving Kurdish flags and placards criticising the rapprochement between Merz and Sharaa, highlighting the latter's time as an Islamist militant.

Near the chancellery dozens of Syrians also turned out to welcome Sharaa, waving Syria's new revolutionary flag and a banner showing the president surrounded by hearts.

Merz, a conservative who took power last May, has stepped up a drive to limit irregular immigration as he seeks to counter the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Merz said last year that, with Syria's civil war over, people from the country now have "no grounds for asylum in Germany".

The government in December resumed deporting convicted criminals to Syria, though only a handful of cases have gone ahead so far.

Merz also said he assumed many Syrians would return home voluntarily, drawing criticism from campaign groups that cite continued instability and rights abuses in Syria.

The Green party's foreign affairs spokeswoman Luise Amtsberg told AFP that Germany should not engage in a "premature normalisation" with Sharaa's government.

Merz had reduced Syria policy "to the question of deportations and is ignoring the situation on the ground", she said.

- 'Authoritarian tendencies' -

Since Sharaa has been in power, sectarian tensions have continued to cause repeated bloodshed, while the Islamic State group remains at large.

After Assad's overthrow, Israel moved its forces into the UN-patrolled demilitarised zone on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, and has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria as well as regular incursions.

Sharaa was initially planning to visit Germany in January, but the trip was postponed as he sought to end fighting between government troops and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in his country's north.

KGD, a group that represents the Kurdish community in Germany, has said that Sharaa "bears responsibility for numerous human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity".

Sophie Bischoff, president of the German-Syrian NGO Adopt A Revolution, told reporters at an event on Monday that any support from the German government "must be linked to clear conditions" and warned that "authoritarian tendencies are on the rise again in Syria".

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French carmaker Renault said on Monday it was developing a ground-based drone for military and civilian use as Europe scrambles to boost weapons production in the face of Russian aggression.

French industry magazine L'Usine Nouvelle said that the carmaker is working in partnership with the Belgian group John Cockerill, which owns the main French supplier of military vehicles Arquus.

"Our R&D teams are testing and exploring various options, such as ground robots, which also have potential for civilian applications," Renault said in a statement to AFP.

"This is an exploratory study project," the company said without confirming the name of the partner company.

The car manufacturer said that it had been contacted by the defence ministry earlier this year.

"Our R&D teams are working on various projects in the defence sector, while also seeking civilian applications in each case," added Renault.

According to L'Usine Nouvelle, the land drone prototype that Renault is developing is said to be the size of a small car and is expected to be unveiled at the Eurosatory international defence and security exhibition in June.

Designed for battlefield reconnaissance, it resembles a lunar rover equipped with several suspended cameras, according to the specialist publication.

In January, Renault said it was teaming up with Turgis Gaillard, a French defence group, to produce aerial drones in France.

Aerial and terrestrial drones have redefined the nature of war in recent years. 

Last week a top NATO commander, Pierre Vandier, said NATO countries must respond to challenges such as Russia and Iran mass-producing drones, whose capacities are rapidly evolving.

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Iran on Monday hanged two men who were members of a banned opposition group and described by rights groups as political prisoners, as Tehran keeps up executions against the background of the war against the US and Israel.

Akbar Daneshvarkar, 60, and Mohammad Taghavi-Sangdehi, 59, were hanged at dawn in the notorious Gehzel Hesar prison in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj for membership of the outlawed People's Mujahedin of Iran, also known as Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK).

They were executed "after confirmation and final approval of the sentence by the Supreme Court", the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

The MEK opposed the rule of the shah and initially supported the 1979 Islamic revolution but rapidly fell out with the new clerical leadership in the 1980s. It is now based in exile and is designated as a terrorist organisation by Tehran.

The group's political wing the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in a statement confirmed that the two were members of the MEK.

Its leader Maryam Rajavi said "the desperate clerical regime, in fear of the people's uprising, vainly attempts to delay the explosion of the people's anger for a short while by executing the bravest children of Iran."

- 'Severe internal repression' -

Campaign groups have long expressed fear that there will be a new surge in executions as authorities use capital punishment to spread fear throughout society against the background of the now over month-long war against Israel and the US.

"We fear that the Islamic republic will exploit the current wartime conditions to carry out mass executions inside prisons, to instill societal fear," said director of Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

IHR said the two "political prisoners" were "subjected to physical and psychological torture, denied due process rights and sentenced to death in a process that did not meet minimum fair trial standards."

It warned four co-defendants are "at grave and imminent risk of execution" in Ghezel Hesar prison after being sentenced to death in the same case.

Shadi Sadr, co-founder of the NGO Justice for Iran, which seeks legal accountability for rights violations in the Islamic republic, said "the Iranian people are trapped between an international war and severe internal repression."

Mizan said the two executed men were charged with participating in "terrorist acts", carrying out actions aimed at overthrowing the Islamic republic, and disrupting national security.

According to the NCRI, the MEK regularly carried out actions inside Iran aimed at the clerical authorities.

Iran on March 19 executed three men who were accused of killing police officers during protests in January, the first hangings Iran has carried out related to the nationwide demonstrations that were met with a brutal crackdown by the authorities.

One of them was teenager Saleh Mohammadi, who had only just turned 19 and had taken part in international wrestling competitions.

Iranian authorities also in March executed Kouroush Keyvani, a dual Iranian-Swedish national, on charges of spying for Israel, in a hanging strongly condemned by Stockholm and the EU.

Iran is the world's most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups. Last year it hanged at least 1,500 people, according to figures from IHR.

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Russia on Monday kicked out a British diplomat over allegations he was working as a spy -- charges rejected by London as "complete nonsense".

Moscow and London have each expelled multiple embassy staff over the last decade, trading accusations of espionage.

Expulsions from one side have typically been followed by a tit-for-tat response from the other.

The diplomat, named as 29-year-old embassy secretary Albertus Gerhardus Janse Van Rensburg, was expelled for engaging in "subversive intelligence activities that threaten Russia's security", Russia's FSB security service said.

"A decision was made to strip Janse Van Rensburg of his accreditation, and he was ordered to leave Russia within two weeks," it added.

The Russian foreign ministry said it had summoned Britain's charge d'affaires over the incident and warned the United Kingdom not to retaliate.

Britain accused Russia of waging an "aggressive and co-ordinated campaign of harassment".

"The accusations made today by Russia against our diplomats are complete nonsense," a foreign ministry spokesperson said, adding Russia was "pumping out malicious and completely baseless accusations about their work".

Relations between London and Moscow, currently at a low point over the Ukraine war, have been strained by spying allegations for decades.

In 2006, former FSB officer and Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko was killed in London, poisoned by polonium in what British investigators said was a hit by the Russian secret service.

In 2018, the UK said Russian double agent Sergei Skripal was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in the British cathedral city of Salisbury.

One member of the public was killed after handling the delivery device, a discarded perfume bottle, triggering the largest Western expulsion in decades of Russian diplomats alleged to be spies.

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Japanese locals and tourists packed the country's most stunning cherry blossom spots on Monday to enjoy the dazzling flowers at full bloom.

The tiny white and pink petals of cherry flowers, known as sakura, herald the start of spring in Japan, and full bloom ushers in a brief period of boisterous outdoor parties held by residents.

Across the nation families and friends rolled out blankets and tarpaulins at parks, temples and even cemeteries over the weekend to eat and drink under cherry trees for traditional "hanami" or flower viewing gatherings.

Japanese people hold "very special feelings for sakura", said Tokyo resident Akiko Nyman, 48, as she admired flowers in crowded Ueno park in the centre of the capital.

"We love it, because it is so short... it doesn't last long, it comes every year, something very special," she said.

At this time of the year, weather forecasters are laser focused on when the blossom will peak in each city, and they advise excited residents on the best weather days for picnics and how long the flowers might last.

In the ancient capital of Kyoto, officials on Monday declared full bloom after examining a sample tree within the grounds of Nijo-jo Castle, a world heritage site.

- 'Good photo opportunity' -

"We observed the cherry blossoms in full bloom on March 30," Kyoto Local Meteorological Office said.

Cherry flowers at ancient temples and shrines in Kyoto are particularly popular among visitors and locals.

Australian tourist Olivia Martell-Groves went all in for the seasonal experience, and donned a flower-printed kimono while marvelling at the flowers.

"We wanted to see them because they're really pretty, good photo opportunities and something you can only see in certain times of the year... and also it just feels so peaceful and nice," she said.

In Tokyo, the flowers reached full bloom during the weekend, entering a brief period of stunning beauty, before the petals will fall like flurries of snow.

The flowers symbolise both the youthful energy and the fragility of life in Japanese culture as full blooms only last about a week.

The season marks the start of the new business year when university graduates join the work force.

It is also a time of farewells, when school graduates leave their hometown while many corporate professionals receive assignments in new cities.

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The EU upped the amount of mackerel that can be fished out of the North Atlantic Monday, sidestepping environmental concerns to match quotas set by Britain, Norway and other rival fishing nations.

Scientists say overfishing poses an existential threat to the Northeast Atlantic mackerel population, which has fallen into a danger zone where its reproduction is no longer guaranteed. 

European Union countries heeded their advice in December, agreeing to a 70 percent reduction in mackerel catches -- in line with a recommendation by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), a scientific body.

But they reversed course Monday after talks to persuade neighbours to take a similar approach failed. 

Agriculture ministers from the EU's 27 nations meeting in Brussels decided on a new, lower reduction target of 48 percent compared to 2025 levels, diplomatic sources confirmed to AFP. 

That brings the EU in line with the quota set in an accord signed by Britain, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands -- an archipelago administered by EU member Denmark.

French fishing representatives had complained that the deal allowed the four nations to overfish a fragile stock and still export their produce to the EU, undermining fair competition.

From nearly 13 million tons in 2014, the biomass of spawning-age mackerel has plummeted to less than 3 million tons in 2025. 

Earlier this month Brussels had complained about the lack of progress in talks with its coastal neighbours. 

"The EU has been the only party consistently raising concerns about the need to respect the scientific advice provided by ICES and to limit the overfishing by Russia," the European Commission said.

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Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Commander confirmed dead -

Iran confirmed on Monday that Revolutionary Guards commander Alireza Tangsiri had been killed, days after Israel said it targeted him in an air strike.

A statement carried by the Guards' Sepah News website said Tangsiri "succumbed to severe injuries" from the attack.

- Missile sites hit -

Israel's military said it had struck dozens of weapons production sites including a long-range surface-to-air missiles manufacturing line in Iran's capital Tehran.

- Tehran power restored -

Iran has restored electricity in parts of the capital and nearby areas after strikes damaged power grids and briefly disrupted supply, the deputy energy minister said.

- Beirut suburb hit -

A strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday, AFPTV footage showed, after Israel issued a warning for people in the Hezbollah stronghold to leave.

The strike was the first since Friday in the area, which is now largely deserted following Israeli attacks on the Iran-backed group. The Israeli military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut.

- Peacekeeper killed -

Indonesia confirmed that one of its peacekeepers was killed in Lebanon, after the UN force said a projectile hit one of its positions.

The Indonesian foreign ministry said "indirect artillery fire" near the town of Adchit al Qusayr killed one of its peacekeepers and wounded three others.

- Kharg Island -

US President Donald Trump said in an interview with The Financial Times that the United States could take Iran's Kharg Island "very easily".

When asked about the state of Iranian defence on the island, which houses a vital oil terminal, Trump said: "I don't think they have any defence. We could take it very easily."

- Saudi intercepts missiles -

Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said its forces detected and intercepted five ballistic missiles aimed at the kingdom's Eastern Province.

The brief statement posted on X did not specify where the missiles originated.

- 'Regime change' -

Trump said Sunday the US-Israel war had achieved regime change in Iran.

"We're dealing with different people than anybody's dealt with before. It's a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change," Trump said.

- Deadly Kuwait strike -

An Iranian strike on a power station in Kuwait killed one Indian worker and damaged a building at the site, the Gulf state's electricity ministry said.

- Israel boosts defence spending -

Israel's parliament passed its 2026 budget, including about $10 billion in new military spending, bringing the country's total defence budget to about $45 billion.

- Iran's heavy water plant -

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran's heavy water production plant in Khondab had sustained severe damage and was no longer operational after an Israeli strike.

The Israeli military said Friday it carried out a strike against a heavy water plant in Arak, central Iran, describing the site as a "key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons".

- Pakistan talks -

Pakistan said it was ready to broker and host "meaningful talks" between the United States and Iran to bring an end to their war, outlining growing support for its peace efforts, including from the United Nations and China.

Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey met in Islamabad.

- Ambassador refuses -

Iran's ambassador will not leave Lebanon despite being declared persona non grata and ordered to quit the country, an Iranian diplomatic source has told AFP.

Lebanon's foreign ministry accused him of making statements "interfering in Lebanon's internal politics".

- University hit -

A university in Iran's central city of Isfahan said it was hit by US-Israeli airstrikes for the second time since the war erupted.

- Kuwait attack -

Kuwait's defence ministry said 10 service members were injured in an attack on a military camp.

- Lebanon toll rises -

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes had killed 1,238 people in the country since the start of the latest war with Iran-backed Hezbollah on March 2.

- Israeli expansion -

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered his military to "further expand" a security zone in Lebanon.

- 30 days offline -

Iran's nationwide internet blackout has now lasted 30 days, leaving millions cut off from information and communication since the war began.

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Three months after state vets seized and killed hundreds of his sheep to stamp out an ongoing pox pandemic, Kostas Theofilou fights back tears as he gazes at his empty stable.

"Three families lived off this place. Look what they’ve done to me. I'm 55 years old. What job can I do now?" the livestock farmer sobbed.

From August 2024 to early March, more than 480,000 sheep and goats have been slaughtered because of the pandemic, mainly in central and northern Greece.

Producers say the resulting fall in the livestock population and milk production is threatening feta, one of Greece's premier exports.

A heavy quiet hangs over Theofilou's farm in the absence of the bleats from the sheep and the tinkle of their bells.

The sheepdogs wander about. 

"I only know how to be a shepherd. I have no other memory from my life. Only the sheep," he told AFP.

In Thessaly, where around 45 percent of the briny white cheese is made from sheep and goat's milk, the impact of the disease is already significant.

The central region, one of the country's key centres of agricultural production, has already sustained major livestock losses over the past three years owing to floods and sheep plague.

According to cheesemakers in the area, milk production this year is down by around 40 percent.

Thessaly is the leading region for feta exports, accounting for over 50 percent of Greece's total exports.

Christina Onasoglou is a food technologist specialising in dairy products who runs with her husband a medium-sized dairy that exports 98 percent of the feta it produces.

She told AFP that because of the animal culls, her milk deliveries have fallen by up to 50 percent, resulting in a corresponding reduction in feta production. 

- Exports in jeopardy -

Sheep milk prices have also increased by up to 12 percent, she noted, further jeopardising exports.

According to estimates by the organisation representing feta producers, the National Interprofessional Organisation for Feta Cheese (EDOF), the drop in feta production due to the lack of milk is expected to reach 20,000 tonnes in 2026. 

It is estimated that in 2025 feta production reached 140,000 tonnes.

To limit the spread of the disease, the authorities have banned livestock farmers from allowing their animals to graze freely.

With the exception of farmers who own fenced-off fields, the rest must keep their flocks in their pens.

"We’ve kept the animals inside since September 9," said Giorgos Xenitidis, a 59-year-old livestock farmer in the outskirts of Thessaloniki.

"We feed them, we water them and they don't go out to pasture. The costs are almost double because the animals are shut in. We live in constant fear that the disease might reach us too," he said.

Almost on a daily basis, police have arrested and put on trial farmers accused of trying to skirt the ban.

Cheesemakers say that by keeping animals confined in barns for a prolonged period that Greece is violating the core requirement of the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) specification for feta. 

"The main argument for obtaining PDO status for feta was that the milk comes from animals that graze freely in pastures full of native herbs, which gives the milk unique characteristics," said Onasoglou.

- Illegal vaccinations -

Running out of options, a large number of livestock farmers have proceeded to vaccinate their flocks -- even though Greek authorities have not approved the procedure. 

According to Greek livestock farmers who spoke to AFP, the vaccines used in recent months come mainly from Bulgaria and Turkey. 

"I was told it comes from Bulgaria and is approved there. I refused, but many others have gone ahead with such vaccinations," said a livestock farmer from the Thessaloniki area, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity.

Greek authorities have seized pox vaccines originating from Turkey on at least two occasions. 

The government has credited wintry weather with a recent lull in the disease.

But a northern Greece veterinarian argues that illegal vaccination has helped.

"One of the reasons there has been a relative lull in the past month is the fact that such vaccinations have been carried out on a large scale," the expert told AFP. 

Greek authorities have strongly opposed vaccination, arguing that the antibodies they create can backfire by giving false signals of infection.

"The use of such vaccines does not allow us to distinguish vaccinated animals from infected ones," said Spyros Kritas, a member of the National Scientific Committee for the Management and Control of Smallpox (EEEDEE), a body specifically set up to combat the virus.

This makes it difficult for authorities to design effective control measures, said Kritas, a professor of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Thessaloniki's Aristotelio University.

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Desperate to help his sick dog, one Australian man went down the ultimate ChatGPT research hole, using artificial intelligence to design a personalised experimental treatment and finding top scientists to administer it.

Paul Conyngham's months-long quest to fight his rescue mutt Rosie's cancer has grabbed the attention of OpenAI boss Sam Altman, who called it an "amazing story" in an X post on Friday.

Sydney-based AI consultant Conyngham told AFP that eight-year-old Rosie's mast cell cancer is now in partial remission and her biggest tumour has shrunk dramatically.

"She regained a lot of mobility and function" after receiving a custom mRNA vaccine along with powerful immunotherapy in December, he said.

Conyngham does not call his findings a cure -- but experts unrelated to the dogged endeavours said they highlight AI's potential to accelerate medical research.

"I would have conversations and just keep them going non-stop" with ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok to study cancer therapies in-depth, Conyngham said.

Following the chatbots' advice, he paid $3,000 to have Rosie's genome sequenced, and used the same online tools to analyse her DNA data.

Next he turned to AlphaFold, a scientific AI model that won 2024's chemistry Nobel, to better understand one of the mutated doggy genes.

Conyngham sought the help of a University of New South Wales (UNSW) team -- also thanks to a ChatGPT recommendation -- and other academics in Australia who made his research a reality.

- 'Just a rash' -

Rosie's cancer was misdiagnosed for nearly a year, Conyngham said on the phone during one of the long daily walks the pair have resumed.

"I took her to the vet three times. And two times, the vet said, don't worry about it, it's just a rash," he said.

But Rosie got sicker and a biopsy showed in 2024 that she did have terminal cancer.

Having tried chemotherapy, standard immunotherapy and surgery, costs were mounting and Conyngham wanted more options.

So he used AI to delve deep into the world of emerging treatments including mRNA vaccines, which train the body's immune system and were widely used during the Covid pandemic.

"This was not a clinical trial by any means" and "it's not that AI cured cancer", said UNSW professor Martin Smith, who sequenced Rosie's genome for Paul.

"It was really driven by his determination to help his dog."

The combination of "three different disruptive technologies: genome sequencing, artificial intelligence, and RNA therapeutics... offers new possibilities and challenges", Smith said.

- AI promise -

Chatbots also assisted Conyngham in navigating the reams of paperwork for ethical approval.

And through his new scientific network, he met a professor at the University of Queensland able to administer the fine-tuned treatment.

Not all the tumours responded as well as the largest one, however. Rosie has had to have another operation since, and it's unclear how long she has left to live.

The "short answer is we don't know for sure" what actually led to the reduction in size of Rosie's biggest tumour, said Pall Thordarson, director of UNSW's RNA institute which created the vaccine.

"He used the AI program... to design the actual mRNA sequence. And then he gave that information to us," Thordarson explained.

"AI holds lots of promise to improve and accelerate our research strategies," Nick Semenkovich at the Medical College of Wisconsin, unrelated to the Rosie saga, told AFP.

But UNSW and Conyngham "haven't published scientific details outside of their press release and interviews, so we don't know enough about the vaccine to understand how much AI helped in its development -- or if the vaccine worked the way it was designed", Semenkovich said.

Patrick Tang Ming-kuen, a professor from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, said AI-powered research could help pets and humans survive, although the risk of errors is real.

"AI transforms a 'needle-in-a-haystack' search into a data-driven selection process, drastically shortening the timeframe between diagnosis and vaccine construction," he said.

Since Conyngham's story went global, Smith said his team have been fielding various new requests.

"You know: my cat's got a disease, my dog's got a disease, my aunt has got a disease."

But "it's hard for us to be able to help", he said. "There's a lot of things that have to align."

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Israel said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem would regain access to Christianity's holiest site after the decision to block him from entering the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday triggered international condemnation.

Police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering the church, citing security concerns as Israel enforces a ban on gatherings in synagogues, churches and mosques during the ongoing war with Iran, which has brought missile strikes near holy sites.

After widespread backlash, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday the Latin Patriarch would get "full and immediate access".

The Latin Patriarchate said in a statement that Pizzaballa and the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Ielpo, were travelling privately without a ceremonial procession when officers at the church entrance forced them to turn back.

"As a result, and for the first time in centuries, the Heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre," it said, calling the incident a "grave precedent" that disregards the sensibilities of Christians worldwide.

Palm Sunday, which opens Holy Week for Christians, marks Jesus Christ's final entry into Jerusalem, days before his crucifixion and resurrection, as described in the Gospels.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre contains the sites where Christians believe Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected.

- Religious freedom concerns -

"War will not erase the resurrection. Grief will not extinguish hope," Pizzaballa said at a Palm Sunday mass he held later at the Church of All Nations, also known as the Church of Gethsemane, on the Mount of Olives.

The Patriarchate had already announced the cancellation of the traditional Palm Sunday procession from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem, which normally draws thousands.

Israeli police said all holy sites in Jerusalem have been closed since the start of the war.

"The Patriarch's request was reviewed yesterday, and it was clarified that it could not be approved," it said in a statement to AFP.

"The Old City and the holy sites constitute a complex area that does not allow access for large emergency and rescue vehicles, which significantly challenges response capabilities and poses a real risk to human life in the event of a mass casualty incident," the force said.

In the Old City of Jerusalem, shops were shuttered and streets lay largely deserted as Christian worshippers expressed sorrow over the cancellation of the traditional Palm Sunday processions.

"This year because of the war we cannot celebrate in the streets like always," Simon Hosh, 25, a resident of the Old City, said.

"So, this year we just celebrate in the church. It's bad."

Pope Leo XIV, speaking after the Angelus prayer in Rome on Sunday, paid tribute to "the Christians of the Middle East, who suffer the consequences of a terrible conflict and in many cases cannot fully live the rites of these holy days".

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said barring the patriarch was a "violation of religious freedom" and urged Israel to guarantee worship "for all faiths".

World leaders from France, Spain, Italy and Jordan condemned the restriction. 

Netanyahu's office said there had been "no malicious intent" behind denying the cardinal entry.

The premier elaborated on Israel's security concerns in a post.

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

On March 16, Israeli police said they found missile and interceptor fragments at holy sites in the Old City, including near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, sharing photos of debris on a roof near the church.

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