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Residents of West Bank’s last Christian village ‘living in fear’
As olive harvest season begins, Palestinian Christian activist Ihab Hassan speaks to Vatican News about the situation in the village of Taybeh, which has been declared a ‘closed military zone’ by the Israeli army.
By Joseph Tulloch
This autumn, for the fourth year running, the residents of the West Bank’s last entirely Christian village are not able to harvest their olives.
“Most of the land is out of reach”, says Ihab Hassan, a Palestinian Christian activist who grew up nearby and is in close contact with residents. “But, at the same time, Israeli settlers are roaming freely.”
Closed off from the world
In August, following months of settler attacks, the Israeli government declared Taybeh a ‘closed military zone’, a move it said aimed to protect residents after repeated incidents of settler violence.
In practice, Hassan said, these restrictions “just apply to Palestinians, while the settlers continue to go wherever they want”.
As well as cutting off residents from their olive trees, Hassan continued, Taybeh’s ‘closed military zone’ status also means that pilgrims, journalists and other outsiders are not able to enter, depriving the village of a crucial lifeline to the outside world.
These concerns have also been echoed by Bishop James Curry, Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
“I was deeply alarmed to hear that Taybeh has been declared a closed military zone”, the bishop said in a statement over the summer. “It is claimed that this is designed to prevent attacks on residents by Israeli settlers, but it is far from clear that this move will achieve that objective … This ban will lead to a vital loss of income from tourism and pilgrimages and, thereby, international scrutiny on the situation.”
A burnt-out car in Taybeh after what residents described as an Israeli settler attack in 2025 (ANSA)
‘Living in fear’ across the West Bank
In the meantime, settlers continue their attacks. Over the summer, Palestinian Christian Bashir Kuna was forced to flee his newly-built home on the outskirts of Taybeh just a week after moving in. Settlers have also continued their attacks on a quarry operated by Roland Basir, putting it out of function.
As a result, residents “live in fear”, Hassan says. Many have already emigrated, he notes, adding that of the 1,200 remaining inhabitants, around 200 are considering leaving.
The attacks have not been confined to Taybeh. In Birzeit, a house belonging to the Christian Abed family has been demolished and the family’s land razed, and attacks have also continued on Muslim villages across the West Bank.
“These attackers do not discriminate”, Hassan says. “Muslim or Christian, if you live near one of their settlements, you are at risk.”
‘Save West Bank Christians’
In response to the ongoing violence, Hassan is working with the Save West Bank Christians campaign, which works to highlight the “existential” threat posed by illegal Israeli settlements to the Holy Land’s Christian communities.
The campaign aims to raise awareness both at a political level and among the general population of the situation in the West Bank.
“We want people to know what’s at stake”, says Hassan. “These communities have been there for 2,000 years. If they disappear, it will be a tragedy not just for Christians but for the entire region.”
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