Jewish settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank launched an overnight attack on Taybeh, the last village in the Palestinian territory that is entirely populated by Christians.
According to Vatican News, the attack began around 2:20 am on Monday morning when settlers entered the town, set three cars on fire, threw stones at homes, attempted to light one house on fire, and spray-painted threatening graffiti written in Hebrew.
When young residents from the village emerged to defend themselves, the settlers fled. The Israeli military arrived about an hour later, and no arrests were made.
Taybeh continues to come under attack despite international attention on the town after settlers set a fire right next to the historic Church of St. George, which was first built in the fifth century. Residents were able to put the fire out before it damaged the church, but the incident prompted three priests based in the town to issue a plea for help amid the growing settler attacks.
A week after the fire was set, Christian leaders from the region visited the town and issued a statement strongly criticizing settler violence and the Israeli government’s support of it.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also visited Taybeh and called the attack on the church an “act of terror” and a “crime.” His comments were surprising due to his history of staunch support for the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the expansion of Israeli settlements.
The purpose of the attacks on Taybeh and other villages in the West Bank is to terrorize residents enough to get them to flee so the settlers can steal their land. The Council of Patriarchs and Heads of Churches of Jerusalem, a group of Christian leaders based in Jerusalem, said in their statement condemning the attacks that settlers had erected a billboard in Taybeh that read “you have no future here.”
