Israeli Military Closes West Bank's Last Christian Village to Halt Settler Attacks
Israel's military declared Taybeh, the West Bank's last remaining entirely Christian village, a closed military zone for nonresidents on August 9, a measure it said was meant to protect residents from a rise in attacks by Israeli settlers, including arson, cut fences, contaminated water cisterns, and direct intimidation. The order applies to Israelis and foreign nationals but not Palestinians, and is set to remain in effect until July 2027. Local priest Father Bashar Fawadleh said incursions have continued even after the closure, and that residents are "beginning to lose the basic sense that they are safe in their own homes."
Taybeh's population has fallen from roughly 1,700 to about 1,200 residents amid the sustained pressure. Fawadleh described the toll as much of it invisible: "For a family, seeing strangers come up to its garden or the wall of its home is not merely an inconvenience, it is a message of intimidation." The village, believed to be the site of the biblical Ephraim where Jesus withdrew before his crucifixion, has been a Christian community for centuries.
