West Bank, MINA – Following recent appeals from the Christian community in the occupied West Bank village of Taybeh, church leaders have intensified their efforts to pressure Israeli authorities to end ongoing settler violence, Anadolu Agency reported.
A “highly detailed” dossier documenting recent attacks by Israeli settlers is set to be submitted to the Vatican for review by the Secretariat of State, and subsequently by Pope Leo XIV himself, according to the Italian daily il Fatto Quotidiano.
On Monday, a delegation comprising representatives from the Holy See and patriarchs from various churches made a solidarity visit to Taybeh, where hundreds of Israeli settlers have reportedly been involved in looting, arson, and land confiscation.
Among the visiting leaders were the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the Vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land, Father Ibrahim Faltas.
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Pizzaballa described the current situation in the West Bank as “lawless.”
“Throughout the West Bank, and not only here, the only law that applies today is the law of power, the law of those who are in power and not the law of those who have the right. We must strive to ensure that the law returns to apply here too, in this part of the country,” he stated.
Taybeh, the last entirely Christian village in the West Bank, with a population of approximately 1,500, has been targeted for several weeks by hundreds of illegal Israeli settlers attempting to seize land and homes.
“There have been deaths in the area. Many have been wounded. People have been forced to leave their homes. Buildings have been destroyed. Fields have been burned. This is a cowardly attack against unarmed civilians,” Faltas wrote in Vatican News on Tuesday.
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Religious leaders are calling for urgent measures to protect civilians and ensure peace, emphasizing that these attacks should not be viewed as a religious conflict but a humanitarian crisis impacting innocent people.
Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, at least 998 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 others injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
In a significant ruling last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. [Shibgho]
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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