On Monday, senior church leaders and foreign diplomats representing more than 20 nations visited the Christian-majority town of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank. Their purpose was to convey solidarity with local residents and to unequivocally denounce the escalating violence being perpetrated by Israeli settlers in the region.
The visiting delegation comprised representatives from countries including the United Kingdom, China, Russia, Japan, Jordan, and the European Union.
This visit was prompted by a series of settler attacks on Taybeh, which have intensified in recent weeks amidst the ongoing conflict in Gaza and a broader surge in tensions across the occupied Palestinian territories.
During a media address in Taybeh, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III and Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa strongly criticized Israeli authorities, accusing them of a failure to adequately protect the town’s Christian inhabitants.
The spiritual leaders specifically referenced an incident from the previous week, where settlers allegedly set fire to land adjacent to Taybeh’s church and brought cattle to graze on privately owned Palestinian agricultural land.
“This is not only a violation of property, but a targeted attack on a community that has long been a symbol of coexistence and peace,” stated Patriarch Theophilos III.
In a joint statement, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem called for a thorough and transparent investigation into these assaults. They urged Israeli authorities to hold the perpetrators accountable, asserting, “These settlers are not acting alone. Their presence around Taybeh is both facilitated and enabled by state policies.”
Taybeh, situated northeast of Ramallah, hosts one of the few remaining Christian communities in the West Bank.
Church leaders have characterized these recent events as part of a wider pattern of harassment and land seizure, with the aim of displacing Christians from the area.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Doha, observed that many within the Christian community view these attacks not merely as acts of religious intolerance but as an extension of the broader occupation.
“They consider themselves under attack not just because they are Christians, but because they are Palestinians,” she noted.
Human rights organizations and local media have extensively documented numerous attacks by settlers—often armed and accompanied by Israeli soldiers—on Palestinian homes, vehicles, and farmland. The frequency and severity of these assaults have markedly increased since Israel initiated its military campaign in Gaza last October. In addition to settler violence, Israeli military raids across West Bank towns have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians and the displacement of tens of thousands.
On Monday, fresh settler assaults were reported in various locations, including Bethlehem. In the village of al-Maniya, settlers reportedly uprooted over 1,500 olive saplings and erected tents in what appeared to be a display of dominance. Zayed Kawazba, the head of the local council, informed the official Palestinian news agency Wafa that the saplings belonged to the al-Motawer and Jabarin families.
Concurrently, in Al-Mazraa ash-Sharqiya, hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral of two young men who were killed during a settler attack on Friday.
Patriarch Pizzaballa, the most senior Catholic official in the region, described the situation in the West Bank as a descent into lawlessness. “The only law that exists here is the law of force,” he stated. “We must restore the rule of law so that everyone, regardless of their background, can appeal for justice.”
The occupied West Bank, home to more than three million Palestinians, remains under stringent Israeli military control. The Palestinian Authority governs limited, fragmented areas of the territory, which are separated by numerous checkpoints and Israeli settlements. Over 500,000 Israeli settlers now reside in more than 100 settlements, all considered illegal under international law.
Church leaders and diplomats urged the international community to take immediate action to protect vulnerable communities in the West Bank and to uphold international legal standards in the occupied territories.
