TEL AVIV — An arson attack on Thursday gutted part of a church at the traditional site of what Christianity reveres as Jesus’ miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the Israeli fire brigade said.

A verse from a Hebrew prayer denouncing the worship of “false gods” was spray-painted in red on a church wall, suggesting Jewish zealots were responsible.

Police detained for questioning 16 Jewish seminary students visiting the Sea of Galilee area from settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but freed them within hours. A lawyer for the youngsters said there was no evidence against them.

A spokesman for the fire brigade said a preliminary investigation showed the blaze broke out in several places inside the limestone Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, evidence that it was started deliberately.