Israel have said it will pay damages to the Church of the Multiplication in Tabgha after an arson attack by Jewish extremists.

The Justice Ministry said the church, where Christians believe Jesus perfomed the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, "should be compensated for the damages caused to it by the arson, in accordance with property tax regulations."

Two suspected Jewish extremists have been charged with arson.

Initially the tax authorities refused to compensate the church, as they said it was not clear that the attack was on "nationalistic" grounds.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said that, based on the charges against the two suspects, the attack was related to the "Israeli-Arab conflict" and therefore the church must be compensated.

The arson attack completely destroyed one of the buildings in the compound, but the church itself was not damaged.

Hebrew graffiti was also found, reading: "Idols will be cast out" or destroyed.

Church officials told AFP that they requested around seven million shekels (roughly £1.2 million).

Three Jewish extremists were charged. Yinon Reuveni and Yehuda Asraf were charged in connection with arson and graffiti.

Moshe Orbac was charged with writing and distributing a document detailing the "necessity" of attacking non Jewish property and people with instructions on how to do so.