By LifeSiteNews (Politics) | Created at 2026-08-13 18:46:41 | Updated at 2026-08-13 20:00:27
1 hour ago
Thu Aug 13, 2026 - 2:46 pm EDT
(LifeSiteNews) — The Israeli military designated Taybeh — the only village left in the West Bank entirely inhabited by Christians — as a “closed military zone” on Sunday. The decision came against a backdrop of escalating and ongoing Jewish terrorist attacks by Israeli “settlers” on these communities.
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) claimed the measure was introduced in response to “some violent attacks by Israelis in the region.” As a result, Israelis and all other non-residents are prohibited from entering the village.
Although the closure is presented as a protective step, Taybeh mayor Suleiman Khouria observed that it places additional restrictions on the residents themselves and does little to shield them from Jewish “settlers” whose colonies (“settlements” and “outposts”) on stolen Palestinian land are all deemed illegal under international law.
The mayor described the closure as “an attempt to further tighten the noose on villagers rather than a measure to protect them.”
Israeli authorities seek to ‘ethnically cleanse’ Taybeh ‘in silence’ without witnesses
Christian Palestinian activist Ihab Hassan highlighted how the new order prohibited Israelis, foreign nationals and journalists from entering the town, meaning, in practice, “international activists, human rights observers, and journalists will no longer be able to enter the village to document or respond to the daily attacks by Israeli settler terrorists.”
He called it “another step” by the IDF “toward the ethnic cleansing of the last entirely Christian village in the West Bank. They want to do it in silence — without witnesses, without journalists, and without the world noticing.”
“Instead of arresting the settler terrorists responsible for these attacks, the authorities are banning the journalists and activists who document them from entering the village,” he wrote on X.
READ: Christian Palestinian activist decries Israeli settler ‘impunity’ in West Bank terrorist attacks
In a follow-up post, Hassan documented how the Israeli police prevented Jewish activists — who were attempting to protect the Christian citizens from the Israeli settlers—from entering Taybeh.
“The isolation of Taybeh … has begun,” he wrote. “Instead of stopping the settler terrorism, Israel is shutting out the people documenting it. All eyes on Taybeh. The campaign to ethnically cleanse this Christian village must not be allowed to happen in silence.”
Parish priest skeptical of motives behind policy
In an interview earlier this week, Father Bashar Fawadleh, the Latin Rite parish priest of Christ the Redeemer Church in Taybeh, said their communities “are facing a real threat of a new settlement reality being imposed on us” but pledged resistance, affirming “Taybeh has decided to remain steadfast and to protect its people.”
In comments to AsiaNews, the pastor said the Church would welcome “any serious measure whose real purpose is to protect our people” but also warned, “What matters to us, however, is not the announcement” of the new IDF policy itself but what happens on the ground in the coming days and weeks.”
“As a Church, we therefore say clearly: protection must mean protection. The responsibility cannot be placed on the victims by restricting their lives, access to their lands or freedom of movement,” Fr. Fawadleh said. “The restrictions must be directed against those who enter illegally, threaten residents, damage property or attempt to take control of land.”
Remaining skeptical, the priest added that Taybeh will judge the IDF’s measure by concrete results — whether attacks stop, farmers can safely reach their land, families live without fear, and new outposts are prevented — warning that “Temporary measures are not enough. What Taybeh needs is lasting security, justice and the protection of its people and land.”
Jewish terrorist attacks continue against Christians in Taybeh
Yet within two days of the closure, the claimed intent to protect the town’s residents was contradicted by violent attacks on the ground. On August 11, Israeli settlers entered the Jabas area on Taybeh’s outskirts, attempted to dismantle a fence surrounding a house, provoked residents, and released dogs to chase them.
Vulnerable People Project (VPP) founder and human rights activist Jason Jones reported yesterday that “despite being declared a closed military zone to protect residents, Israeli settlers entered its outskirts and released dogs on residents.” And citing a report from Persecuted Church Alerts (PCA), a project of VPP, he observed, “The incursion raises questions about whether the declaration offers any real protection” to Christians in the town.
The PCA went on to report how the Jewish settler terrorists “attempted to remove and dismantle the fence surrounding the house they had surrounded and proceeded to provoke local residents.” Videos of this attack circulated broadly on social media.
Footage circulating online reportedly shows a group of Israeli settlers attacking, vandalising and attempting to break into Palestinian homes in the village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank pic.twitter.com/1GuAAD3IZn
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) August 13, 2026
Holy Land prelates: Israeli officials ‘facilitate and enable’ terrorist attacks
In July 2025 after Israeli terrorists destroyed farmland, torched holy sites, and terrorized Christian families in Tabyeh, Holy Land prelates charged that local law enforcement authorities actually “facilitate and enable” such attacks through non-enforcement of laws supporting the basic human rights of the Palestinian population they have illegally occupied for over 59 years.
READ: Holy Land bishops urge Christians worldwide to help defend faithful from Israeli settler attacks
Such judgments have been repeatedly confirmed by current and former Israeli ministers who corroborate the complicity of Israeli government officials in facilitating these ongoing crimes through obfuscation, encouragement or ensuring “the (Jewish) terrorists don’t get arrested.”
Appeal to pope and ‘every Catholic diocese worldwide’ to defend brother and sisters ‘living in terror’
In an interview with Vatican News earlier this week, Father Fawadleh urged the global Church to intensify prayers and support the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
“I invite every Catholic diocese worldwide to speak out about the situation here, to talk about these Christian brothers and sisters who are living in terror. The birthplace of the Christian community must not vanish into silence,” the priest said regarding the historic village.
Taybeh has been inhabited by Apostolic Christians since Jesus Christ stayed with his disciples in the town — referred to as “Ephraim” in the Gospel of John — just before his passion, death, and resurrection.
“Together, we can preserve this living testament of faith,” the priest further said about the town.
Fawadleh also appealed for Pope Leo XIV “to intervene for this last Christian village in the West Bank, so that these settler attacks cease and the occupation of our land stops. We simply want to live in peace, with justice and dignity.”
In Leo’s first customary annual address to the Holy See’s Diplomatic Corps last January, he reaffirmed the Church’s support for a two-state solution, decried the increase in Israeli settler violence against the civilian population in the West Bank, and confirmed the right of Palestinians to live in peace remaining “on their own land.”
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