The Christian presence in the West Bank is facing a worrying surge in acts of hostility from Israeli settlers, jeopardizing the survival of local communities. This is the alarming assessment made by Bishop William Shomali, Auxiliary Bishop of Jerusalem, in an interview granted on March 20, 2026, to the EWTN network. The prelate described a significant deterioration in the security and social situation for the faithful living in the Palestinian territories.
While the Bethlehem area had previously enjoyed relative stability, Bishop Shomali notes that the expansion of settlements is now accompanied by increasingly frequent aggressions. These acts are no longer limited to verbal intimidation but manifest as physical obstructions to accessing agricultural land, damage to private property, and, in some cases, criminal acts of vandalism such as the burning of vehicles belonging to Christians.
The bishop particularly highlighted the plight of the Christian village of Taybeh. Despite a visit from the United States Ambassador to Tel Aviv, alerted by the Church to the gravity of the situation, concrete measures to protect the population remain insufficient. The scenario repeats itself in Birzeit, north of Ramallah, where almost daily settler incursions aim to harass residents in their homes and workplaces.
These repeated pressures are having dramatic pastoral and economic consequences. Losing access to their means of subsistence, many Christian families find themselves in extreme precariousness. Bishop Shomali emphasized the imperative need for the Church to intervene with direct material support to enable these communities to remain on their ancestral land.
The hostility does not spare religious institutions. In Urtas, near Bethlehem, Bishop Shomali reported the occupation by settlers of a hill belonging to a convent of religious sisters. This land, used by the sisters for olive cultivation, is now threatened by a new settlement project. A similar situation affects Beit Sahour, the village of the Shepherds' Field, where lands owned by Christian families are being seized. The bishop mentioned the recent case of a one-hectare plot where an Israeli flag was planted to mark its appropriation.
According to Bishop Shomali, this dynamic is gradually transforming the geography of the region. What international law calls the West Bank is increasingly referred to by its biblical names of Judea and Samaria by settlers, signaling a desire for a change of sovereignty to the detriment of the Palestinian population. In this context of growing tension, Bishop Shomali reminds us that every lost parcel of land reduces the living space of a Christian community whose survival now depends on increased international solidarity and determined action by the authorities.