Church leaders, global envoys decry rising Israeli settler violence in West Bank

Church leaders and international diplomats have strongly condemned the recent wave of attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, particularly in the Christian-majority town of Taybeh.

The joint call for accountability came during a visit on Monday by delegates from more than 20 countries, including the UK, China, Russia, Japan, Jordan, and EU member states.

Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III and Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa were among the religious leaders who visited the town and spoke out against the violence. Last week, settlers reportedly set fires near a church in Taybeh, and church officials said Israeli authorities failed to respond to calls for help, reported Al Jazeera.

In a statement, the patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem called for a formal investigation and held Israeli authorities responsible for enabling the settlers’ actions. “Who facilitate and enable their presence around Taybeh,” the statement said, referring to the growing settler activity in the region.

According to the church leaders, settlers have also been grazing cattle on Palestinian land, torching homes, and posting threatening signs that read, “There is no future for you here.”

Al Jazeera's Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Doha, said the attacks are being described as a “systemic and targeted assault” on the Christian community in the West Bank. “About 50,000 of them live in the occupied West Bank, a small but very proud minority,” she noted, adding that the Christian population feels under siege for being both Palestinian and Christian.

The Church of St. George, an ancient religious site in Taybeh, was the scene of a joint prayer by Theophilos and Pizzaballa during their visit, just steps away from where the recent fires were set.

Pizzaballa described the worsening situation as a breakdown of law and order. “The only law [in the West Bank] is that of power, of those who have the force, not the law. We must work for the law to return to this part of the country,” he said.

The delegation's visit coincided with a surge in settler violence across the West Bank.

On the same day, Israeli settlers and soldiers launched new attacks in Bethlehem and other areas. In the village of al-Maniya, southeast of Bethlehem, settlers uprooted approximately 1,500 olive saplings and set up tents in a clear act of land seizure, according to Zayed Kawazba, head of the village council.

Meanwhile, hundreds gathered in Al-Mazraa ash-Sharqiya for the funerals of two Palestinians killed in a settler attack days earlier.

The West Bank, home to over three million Palestinians, is heavily militarised and dotted with Israeli checkpoints and illegal settlements. Around 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in more than 100 such outposts, built in defiance of international law on private Palestinian land.

Human rights groups have long documented attacks by settlers on Palestinian homes, property, and farmlands - often carried out with military support or protection. These incidents have intensified since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023.

Church leaders say the violence is making it increasingly difficult to protect Christian communities in Palestine, even as efforts continue to support their resilience and presence on their ancestral lands.