As the war in Gaza persists, the situation in the West Bank is in freefall, with increasing levels of settler violence and intimidation against Palestinians. Last week, the heads of churches in Taybeh, the last remaining Christian-majority town in the West Bank, spoke out against the series of systematic attacks by settlers on the town’s land and holy sites, including St George’s, its fifth-century church.
As well as threatening the town’s security and livelihood, these attacks undermine the dignity of its Christian residents and threaten their historical and religious heritage. Residents fear expulsion from their land and homes. This is part of a wider strategy of control and coercion rendering life unviable for Palestinians across the occupied territory. Successive Israeli governments have used settler violence as an informal tool to annex Palestinian land.
