Israeli settlers escalate incursions into Taybeh, the West Bank’s last Christian town, sparking fears of land seizure and pleas for protection.
Newsroom (20/03/2026 Gaudium Press ) Amid heightened regional tensions and continuing Israeli strikes in Lebanon, a new wave of settler incursions has swept through the West Bank, reaching the Christian enclave of Taybeh. Known as the last fully Christian Palestinian town in the territory, Taybeh is once again facing violence, intimidation, and the looming threat of land expropriation.
Residents say the attacks have intensified since June 2025, but the latest series of events mark a worrying escalation. On March 19, groups of Israeli settlers entered the western outskirts of Taybeh, seizing control of a local cement factory and an adjacent quarry. Witnesses recount that the settlers performed Talmudic prayers on-site and hoisted an Israeli flag atop a storage tank—asserting de facto control over the property.
The following day, the same groups returned, despite an initial police intervention that briefly dispersed them. “The police came one hour after our phone call,” said Taybeh’s parish priest, Father Bashar Fawadleh, speaking to Vatican Radio. “But after that, they came back in 15 or 30 minutes. And now they are inside the land.”
Father Fawadleh described this incident as part of a “new phase” in the settlers’ campaign—one that no longer targets residential areas alone but has shifted toward economically and strategically important zones. The cement plant and quarry lie in the town’s western section, part of a 4,000-acre stretch of land vulnerable to expansion pressure from neighboring settlements.
This encroachment, the priest warned, is part of a broader pattern of territorial consolidation stretching from east of Jerusalem toward the Jordan Valley—an arc that Israeli cabinet decisions to expand settlements have already placed under heavy strain. He said the raids, coupled with ongoing military checkpoints and barriers around Taybeh, are severely restricting residents’ movement and economic life.
Despite the pressure, Father Fawadleh remains steadfast in calling for peace and justice for his community. “We still have hope,” he said. “We are raising our voice to say that we are a civilian Palestinian people. We want to live in peace. We want to live in justice.”
Appealing directly to the international community, the priest urged outside observers and human rights organizations to visit the area. “We ask the world to come and see,” he said, “to stop these actions, and to allow us to live in safety and peace.”
As the only fully Christian town in the West Bank, Taybeh’s struggle has become emblematic of the broader Palestinian experience under expanding settlement activity—where faith, heritage, and land intertwine in a fragile balance now under renewed threat.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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