Sunday 23 August 2026

Settler attacks continue on last Christian village in West Bank despite IDF declaring 'closed military zone'

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GB NEWS

Alice Tomlinson

By Alice Tomlinson


Published: 23/08/2026

- 14:53

The Rossing Centre, a Jerusalem-based interreligious organisation said incidents targeting Christian clergy and pilgrims nearly doubled between 2023 to 2025

The last Christian village in the West Bank remains under settler attack despite the IDF declaring it a "closed military zone".

Taybeh, located nine miles from Jerusalem, was made off-limits to civilians ahead of the new wave of attacks.


However, one such attack occurred last week, with a local Bedouin family besieged for more than an hour, according to The Telegraph.

Settlers typically arrive at sunset, travelling via an off-road vehicle, on foot or on horseback to the village.

Attacks have included stone-throwing, arson or violent assaults, with some Taybeh residents hospitalised.

Naif al-Kaabneh, who lives near Taybeh, said his family had installed razor wire around their compound after settlers breached an earlier barrier.

He told the Telegraph his family faces near-daily intimidation from settlers, forced to keep watch overnight.

Similar patterns of violence have occurred in the nearby village of Qusra, where settler attacks left one Palestinian man dead and his brother disabled.

\u200bFather Bashar Fawadleh inside the Old Church of St George in Taybeh

Father Bashar Fawadleh inside the Old Church of St George in Taybeh

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GETTY

Earlier this month, a large group of settlers blockaded several Palestinian homes in Qusra, cutting off water and electricity supplies.

The IDF deployed additional troops and declared the area a closed military zone but was forced to retreat after more than 100 settlers gathered to block the road.

The escalating violence in Taybeh forms part of a wider pattern of hostility towards Christians across Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Attacks on Taybeh intensified significantly from late 2023, when settlers first established a single tent on a hilltop overlooking the town, the Washington Post reported last month.

Israeli settlers breaching fencing in the Christian village of Taybeh

Israeli settlers breaching fencing in the Christian village of Taybeh

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GETTY

Over the following two years, the settler outpost grew into a small farm, with allegations of property vandalism and guns being fired being documented.

Local cement factory owner Roland Bassir told the Washington Post he had laid off nearly all of his 45 staff and was preparing to abandon his business entirely, having applied for a US visa.

"There is no future," he said.

"Every day I think it might be my last day here, because I might be killed."

Many Taybeh residents supported US President Donald Trump's re-election in 2024, in the hope he would protect Christians in the region.

US ambassdor Mike Huckabee visited the town last year after settlers allegedly set fire to its 1,500-year-old Church of St George.

He called the incident "an act of terror" before retracting the comment after Israeli police said they found no clear evidence of arson.

Mr Huckabee's actions seemingly angered the people of Taybeh, particularly after he told broadcaster Tucker Carlson that Israel had a divine right to the area, as well as Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

In April, a French Catholic nun was pushed to the ground and kicked in an attack on Jerusalem's Mount Zion.

Police said the act was motivated by "religious hostility".

The assault, caught on CCTV, was condemned by the French Consulate, with Israel's Foreign Ministry describing it as a "shameless act".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said such acts of violence "will not be tolerated" and perpetrators would be "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law".

The Rossing Centre, a Jerusalem-based interreligious organisation, said incidents targeting Christian clergy and pilgrims nearly doubled between 2023 and 2025.

This year is set to be a record high in attacks.

About 10 extended families have left Taybeh over the past decade, out of a total population of 1,500.

The UK has sanctioned individuals linked to West Bank violence, including Mr Smotrich and Mr Ben Gvir.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband warned last week that further measures would be implemented in response to new settlement development in the east of Jerusalem.