AhlulBayt News Agency: A Palestinian church committee has warned that assaults by illegal Israeli settlers threaten the long-standing Christian community in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, calling on churches globally to take immediate and visible steps to safeguard Palestinian civilians, including Christians.
In a letter to churches around the world, the Palestinian Presidential Higher Committee for Church Affairs said attacks by Israeli settlers have surged in various neighborhoods of the West Bank.
It noted that the attacks have targeted towns and villages like Birzeit, Taybeh, and Ein Arik in the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorates, as well as al-Makhrour and Ash Ghurab areas in Bethlehem governorate.
According to the committee, the types of attacks include arrests, physical assaults, land confiscations, and the growth of settlement outposts.
It characterized the assaults as part of a deliberate policy designed to change both the demographic and geographic makeup of the region, with the goal of forcibly displacing the local population.
“These are not isolated incidents,” the committee said, adding that the violence is carried out under the protection of Israeli forces and amid complete impunity.
The committee, citing data provided by the official advocacy body Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, reported that illegal settlers were responsible for more than 4,723 attacks in the West Bank in 2025.
The number of illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank reached 770,000 in more than 180 settlements and 256 settlement outposts by the end of 2024, official Palestinian data showed.
The international community views the settlements as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on occupied territories. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in several resolutions.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of historical Palestine illegal. The ICJ demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds. It was mere words.
According to Palestinian figures, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 1,110 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East al-Quds, and injured at least 11,500 others since October 2023.
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