Continuing violence in the occupied Palestinian territories on the West Bank has arguably been obscured by the larger conflict in Gaza. But attacks by Jewish settlers have been on the rise, and an unspoken policy of impunity for settler violence, arson and acts of intimidation appears to have taken hold.
Witnesses and human rights advocates allege that soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces and other security forces most often stand by passively as settler gangs, often associated with the “hilltop youth” movement, orchestrate violent assaults on Palestinians and acts of property damage, including arson attacks on Palestinian homes and vehicles.
The Christian village of Taybeh has become the most recent target of settler violence. On July 7, settlers carried out a daytime arson attack on the Church of Al-Khader (St. George) and a Byzantine Christian cemetery. The fifth-century church is “one of the oldest and most venerated places of worship for Christians in Palestine,” according to a report from Vatican News.
Taybeh is a community of 1,500 people about 10 miles from Jerusalem, overlooking the Jordan Valley, Jericho and the Dead Sea. According to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Taybeh is mentioned multiple times in the Old Testament as Ofra, and in the New Testament, as Ephraim, “which is the village in which Jesus chose to stay with His disciples after he raised Lazarus from the dead.”
The arson at the Church of St. George represents only the latest attack on Taybeh. In a joint statement released on July 8, priests from Taybeh’s Latin, Greek Orthodox and Melkite communities condemned “the ongoing and grave series of attacks targeting Taybeh.”
According to Vatican News: “In the days leading up to [the July 7] attacks on Christian sites, settlers had already targeted the village outskirts, setting fire to a house and several cars.”
The Taybeh priests said: “These assaults threaten the security and stability of our town and aim at undermining the dignity of its residents and the sanctity of its sacred land.”
Regarding the arson at the Church of St. George, the priests said: “Were it not for the vigilance of local residents and the swift intervention of firefighting teams, the damage could have been far more catastrophic.”
Responding to a query from America on whether or not the Trump administration was concerned about settler violence and planned to pressure the Netanyahu government to address the issue, a State Department spokesperson responded: “We condemn criminal violence by any party. We refer you to the Government of Israel regarding security incidents and IDF posture in the West Bank.”
In January, President Donald Trump lifted sanctions on individual settlers and entities connected with them that had previously been imposed by the Biden administration because of violence against Palestinians.
Sean Callahan, the president and chief executive of Catholic Relief Services, was in the region last week meeting with heads of humanitarian agencies for Gaza, the West Bank, Syria and Lebanon. He said the region’s number one issue remains a complete cease-fire in Gaza to allow the movement of humanitarian aid. But he said C.R.S. has also been urging that conditions on the West Bank be normalized and “that the rule of law be instituted so that we can protect those communities.”
According to Mr. Callahan, the deteriorating security conditions have made it difficult for C.R.S. and local Caritas agencies to continue their work in the occupied territories. “We have to make sure that those communities have access to both livelihoods and the ability to move around and visit families,” he said. “Right now, it is a very frightening situation, and many of the communities are completely isolated.”
Mr. Callahan said he personally witnessed a settler attack during a previous visit in November. “It’s a terrible situation,” he said. “We have to continually push that the rights of the civilians in those areas are protected.”
The Taybeh statement, issued on behalf of Fathers Daoud Khoury, Jacques-Noble Abed and Bashar Fawadleh, points out that Taybeh’s “wholly Christian population represents a unique presence in the region, a living testimony that dates back to the time of Christ.”
“This enduring spiritual and cultural legacy, preserved faithfully by the people of Taybeh across generations, is now at serious risk of erosion and displacement due to the systematic targeting of land, sacred places, and the local community,” the priests said.
The three priests report that in scenes that have become “provocatively routine,” settlers graze cattle on Taybeh’s agricultural lands, “including family-owned fields and areas near residential homes, without deterrence or intervention from the authorities.”
The eastern part of the town, the three priests say, “has become an open target for illegal Jewish settlement outposts that are quietly expanding under the protection of the Israeli army.”
According to a July report from ACLED, an international think tank that tracks data on violent conflict and protest, overall violence on the West Bank declined in June, primarily as “a reflection of Palestinian armed groups’ declining activity.” But ACLED researchers warned that “settler violence continues unabated.”
“A culture of impunity reinforced by recent government policies, such as ending administrative detention for settlers and openly supporting even the most extreme hilltop and farm outposts, continues to embolden violent actors,” ACLED reports. “In this context, even rare attempts at law enforcement that conflict with settler interests can spark further violence—whether against Palestinians or Israeli soldiers themselves.”
That outcome was spectacularly evident after a settler attack on the Palestinian village of Kafr Malik on June 25 led to a serious confrontation and the deaths of a number of Palestinian youth, shot down by Israeli soldiers. When I.D.F. troops dismantled a settler outpost three days later, the Jewish settlers attacked Israeli soldiers, reflecting “a growing sense among extremist settlers that they are effectively above the law,” according to ACLED.
That settler assault on I.D.F. troops led to a rare rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said in a statement that “no civilized country can tolerate violent and anarchic acts such as the burning of a military installation, damage to IDF property, and assaults on security personnel by citizens of the state.”
But Mr. Netanyahu declined to explicitly condemn violence against West Bank Palestinians. He said instead: “The settler community is a model and an example of developing the land, meaningful service in the IDF, and contributing to the cultivation of Torah scholars. We will not allow a violent and fanatic few to tarnish an entire community.”
In their statement, the three Taybeh priests urged Israeli authorities to launch “an immediate and transparent investigation into the incidents of arson and the ongoing assaults on property, agricultural land, and holy sites.” They implored international actors to apply diplomatic pressure on the occupying authorities “to halt settler actions and prevent them from entering or grazing in Taybeh’s lands.”
The priests also requested that international and church delegations visit Taybeh to “document the damages and bear witness to the deteriorating reality on the ground” and implored international support for the people of Taybeh through economic and agricultural initiatives and “effective legal accompaniment.”
They conclude: “We believe that the Holy Land cannot remain alive without its indigenous people. Forcibly removing farmers from their land, threatening their churches, and encircling their towns is a wound to the living heart of this nation. Yet we remain steadfast in our shared faith and hope—that truth and justice will ultimately prevail.”
More from America
- A Moral Reckoning in Gaza
- Israel, Iran and the deadly results of abandoning international laws
- An SOS for Gaza: Christian peace group calls for cease-fire and life-saving aid
- Interview: Holy Land Christians raise their voices for the suffering people of Palestine
A deeper dive
- What Just Happened: Trump’s Termination of West Bank Settler Sanctions
- Get To Know The Latin Parish Of Taybeh
- PM condemns ‘fanatic few’ settlers for attacking IDF; Lapid: ‘Terrorists are terrorists’
- West Bank: Israeli state-backed settler violence drives mass displacement of Palestinian communities
- Gaza Doctrine: The West Bank Is Under Fire
The Weekly Dispatch takes a deep dive into breaking events and issues of significance around our world and our nation today, providing the background readers need to make better sense of the headlines speeding past us each week. For more news and analysis from around the world, visit Dispatches.
