Israeli army surrounds last Christian town in West Bank
Taybeh declared a ‘closed military zone’ by the IDF after months of attacks by Israeli settlers
12 August 2026
Settlers clash with Christians in Taybeh, West Bank Credit: Issam Rimawi/Anadolu via Getty
Israel’s army has surrounded the last fully Christian town in the West Bank, amid growing settler violence.
Taybeh, close to Ramallah, has been declared a “closed military zone” by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) after months of repeated attacks by Israeli settlers.
The Telegraph previously reported that settlers had used arson to intimidate the town’s Christian inhabitants, fanning the flames with leaf blowers.
Some of Taybeh’s churches date from the fifth century, but the town is increasingly surrounded by illegal outposts built by Israeli settlers.
The IDF’s order declaring the area a closed military zone applies to Israelis and foreigners, rather than Palestinians.
However, such orders have been used elsewhere to prevent journalists and international monitors from approaching an area which is under attack by settlers, often while the IDF and Israeli police failed to remove the settlers or dismantle their structures.
Father Bashar Fawadleh, the parish priest of Christ the Redeemer Church in Taybeh, said: “The declaration of Taybeh as a closed military zone for non-resident Israelis may be a positive step if it is genuinely and consistently enforced to prevent settlers from entering our lands and carrying out further attacks.
“What matters to us, however, is not the announcement itself, but what happens on the ground in the coming days and weeks.
“For months, our community has experienced repeated incursions into private and agricultural lands, intimidation of families and workers, fires, armed presence, the entry of settlers and their livestock onto private property and attempts to establish a permanent presence around the village.
“These incidents have created fear and are threatening the normal life and future of our Christian community.”
People try to put out the flames of a fire in Taybeh Credit: Nabd El-Haya
Suleiman Khoury, the town’s mayor, has said that restricting foreign visitors will only worsen Taybeh’s economic situation.
Taybeh is one of the only Christian villages remaining in the West Bank and was visited last year by the Greek Orthodox patriarch and the Roman Catholic cardinal of Jerusalem.
It is also home to the Taybeh Brewing Co, widely considered the Middle East’s oldest microbrewery, founded in 1994.
In June, Israeli settlers obstructed Palestinians from putting out a large fire near Taybeh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian civil defence firefighters.
A local priest who described an “ongoing pattern of intimidation and unjustified violence” that undermined the residents’ fundamental rights.
Attacks on the town have prompted rare condemnation from Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, who is normally a staunch defender of the Jewish state from all criticism. Mr Huckabee is an Evangelical Christian pastor.
Violence against Palestinians in the West Bank perpetrated by settlers has escalated steadily in recent years, with the Israeli army and police accused of often allowing it.
This week international attention is also focusing on the village of Qusra, further north in the West Bank, where a Palestinian family has been “besieged” by settlers for several days, also prompting the military to close off the area to journalists.
Father Bashar Fawadleh leads a church service in Taybeh in June Credit: ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP
On Wednesday, there were unconfirmed reports that the military had begun to remove some of the illegal settler outposts built nearby, prompting dozens of local settlers to converge on the area.
The more radical elements of the settler community are concerned that a more centrist Israeli government will be elected in October that curtails their activities.
They are supported financially by Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, and via the security forces through Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister. Both ministers come from settler communities.