Taybeh, the last entirely Christian town in the West Bank, is at risk of becoming a ghost town. Christians have probably lived there since apostolic times and the town is mentioned in John’s Gospel by the older name of Aephraim. Jesus withdrew there shortly before his crucifixion (John 11:54).
But since June 2025 Taybeh has seen increasing attacks by extremist Jewish settler. The remains of the fifth-century Church of St. George have been vandalised, as has the nearby cemetery. Cars have been set ablaze and properties torched. Agricultural land has been destroyed and farmers stopped from entering their olive groves. And in March 2026 settlers seized a quarry and factory on the town’s edge.
Parish priest Dr. Bashar Fawadleh said Israeli soldiers have failed to help Taybeh’s Christians when the town has been attacjked: “They didn’t protect us, they didn’t stop the settlers, and this is because they protect settlers, because a lot of the soldiers come from settler communities – and they are encouraged by the fanatical elements in the government.”
The February 2026 cabinet decision to support the expansion of Israeli Settlements in the West bank placed further strain on Taybeh. “The general climate has become more fragile and tense, with an increase in military operations, traffic restrictions due to the installation of military gates at several entrances to the city.” Soldiers decide when gates are open “disrupting the daily lives of civilians,” Fr. Bahar said.
The priest added some families had already left Taybeh and others were “seriously considering it.” Fr. Bashar told CAN he understood the fears families had for their children, but that Taybeh’s Christian presence is a living testimony to the Faith “in this land where Christianity was born. Leaving the land is sometimes a human necessity, but staying is often an act of faith and hope.”
With just 1,400 souls left in Taybeh, Fr. Bashar has asked for prayers that the town’s “Christians remain a living community and not a mere memory of the past.”
(Due acknowledgement to’Aid to the Church in Need, Magazine Summer 2026:
https://heyzine.com/flipbook/6c13c05d80.html#page/4 )