Taybeh, the last Christian village in the West Bank, under the constant fear of attacks

Taybeh, identified with biblical Ephraim from the Gospel of John, the only entirely Christian village in the West Bank, denounces the escalation of settler attacks.

The Fact

According to La Croix (July 17, 2026), the inhabitants of Taybeh, the only entirely Christian village in the West Bank, describe the "permanent fear" they live in due to repeated attacks by Israeli settlers. The Catholic, Greek-Orthodox, and Melkite parishes report fires in olive fields, intrusions of livestock, and physical assaults largely going unpunished. Taybeh, identified by tradition with the biblical Ephraim where Jesus withdrew before the Passion (John 11:54), had several thousand inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century; today, they are barely more than a thousand.

Our Reading

The Patriarchs and heads of the Churches of Jerusalem, in their joint appeal of July 3, 2026, had already warned that the Christian presence in the Holy Land, which has fallen from nearly 20% of the population in 1948 to less than 2% today, was at stake. The attack on Taybeh is not an isolated incident: it is a political signal addressed to the last native communities of the land of Christ. The declaration Dignitatis humanae (Vatican II) reminds us that religious freedom is not limited to private tolerance but implies the public protection of communities. The silence of Western chancelleries on this point calls their coherence into question.

To Reflect On

Pray for Taybeh, for its three parishes, and for the faithful who refuse to flee. Support the Œuvre d'Orient and the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. These living stones, if they disappear, will leave the sanctuaries of Christ without a people to pray in them.