Palestine: Taybeh’s Christians Stand Firm Amid Rising ’Israeli’ Strikes

By Staff, Agencies

Early on Sunday mornings, the bells of three ancient churches ring out across Taybeh, the hilltop West Bank village the Gospel says Jesus once visited. According to a reports, Taybeh remains the last entirely Christian community in the occupied West Bank.

Taybeh’s residents, Catholics of the Roman and Greek Melkite rites, alongside Greek Orthodox, describe themselves as both devout and deeply Palestinian. They long for independence and peace in the land of their ancestors, yet those hopes feel increasingly remote amid growing threats from "Israeli" settlers and ever-tightening restrictions on movement.

Even Thursday’s announcement of a temporary halt to the "Israeli" genocide in Gaza brought little comfort.

“The situation in the West Bank needs its own agreement, one that expels the settlers from our land,” Rev. Bashar Fawadleh, parish priest of Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church, told media. “We are so tired of this life.”

Inside the church, families attend Mass beneath Palestinian and Vatican flags. A mosaic of Jesus entering the ancient village of Ephraim towers above the altar. Nearby, worshippers gather at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, its walls lined with Arabic and Greek icons facing olive-strewn hills.

“We’re struggling too much. We don’t see the light,” said the Rev. David Khoury, the church’s priest. “We feel like we are in a big prison.”

"Israel's" occupation of the West Bank since 1967 remains central to the Palestinian struggle. Since the Gaza war began on October 7, violence has surged across the territories, with West Bank crackdowns and even churches in Gaza coming under fire.

After leading Taybeh’s choir, Suheil Nazzal walked to his now-inaccessible olive groves, blocked by settler threats. This summer, settlers set nearby land ablaze, fire nearing the cemetery and 5th-century church ruins.

Facing rising threats, economic strain, and IOF checkpoints, many of Taybeh’s 1,200 residents have emigrated or are considering it. Victor Barakat and Nadeen Khoury returned from Massachusetts to raise their children in their homeland—but say security is now worse than during the Second Intifada.

“Everyone is unsafe,” said Barakat. “You never know who’s going to stop you.”

The family no longer allows their children to attend after-school activities due to road insecurity.

“The pause in Gaza gives some hope,” Barakat added, “but here in the West Bank, the agenda is still more complicated.”

Taybeh’s churches run schools serving children from kindergarten through high school, along with sports and music programs. Yet educators say young people are growing up under constant fear.

“We don’t feel safe when we go from here to Ramallah or any other village,” Marina Marouf, vice principal of the Catholic school, told AP. “Always there is a fear, that we might be killed, or something terrible might happen.”

Students have sometimes been forced to shelter at school for hours while waiting for “flying checkpoints”, temporary roadblocks that can appear and close without notice, cutting off movement across the West Bank.

Christians now make up just 1–2% of the West Bank, their numbers dwindling due to occupation and displacement. Yet in Taybeh, many see staying as an act of faith and resistance.

Church leaders and watchdog groups report rising anti-Christian harassment by "Israeli" settlers, especially in al-Quds’ Old City, where incidents like spitting on clergy by settlers have sparked alarm.

Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pizzaballa warns that rising settler violence, job scarcity, and movement limits in the West Bank may push more Christians to leave.

Franciscan priest Francesco Ielpo, new Custodian of the Holy Land, says the mission is to stay. “We can’t stop the hemorrhage, but we will be here.” His main challenge: helping people resist despair and division.

Despite the despair, Taybeh’s clergy persist in offering hope through youth programs, community work, and shared prayer.

“Still we are awaiting the third day as Palestinians,” Father Fawadleh said, invoking the Resurrection. “The third day, that means new life, freedom, and salvation for our people.”