Early on Sunday mornings, the bells of three ancient churches ring out across Taybeh, the hilltop West Bank village the Gospel says Jesus once visited. According to a report by the Associated Press, Taybeh remains the last entirely Christian community in the occupied West Bank.

Taybeh’s residents, Catholics of the Roman and Greek Melkite rites, alongside Greek Orthodox,  describe themselves as both devout and deeply Palestinian. They long for independence and peace in the land of their ancestors, yet those hopes feel increasingly remote amid growing threats from Israeli settlers and ever-tightening restrictions on movement. 

Even Thursday’s announcement of a temporary halt to the Israeli genocide in Gaza brought little comfort.

“The situation in the West Bank needs its own agreement, one that expels the settlers from our land,”  Rev. Bashar Fawadleh, parish priest of Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church, told AP. “We are so tired of this life.”

'We feel like we are in a big prison'

Inside the church, families gather for Mass beneath Palestinian and Vatican flags flanking the altar. A tall mosaic behind it depicts Jesus’ arrival in the ancient village once known as Ephraim. Down the road, worshippers fill St. George Greek Orthodox Church, where Arabic and Greek icons line the walls overlooking olive-dotted hills.

“We’re struggling too much. We don’t see the light,” said the Rev. David Khoury, the church’s priest. “We feel like we are in a big prison.”

The West Bank, occupied by "Israel" since 1967, remains at the heart of the decades-long Palestinian struggle. The Israeli genocide in Gaza, which erupted on October 7, has further intensified aggression across the occupied territories. Gaza’s tiny Christian community endured direct bombardment,  including a Catholic church struck by an Israeli shell in July. Simultaneously, Israeli brutality has also surged throughout the West Bank.

After leading Taybeh’s church choir, as he has for six decades, Suheil Nazzal walked to the village’s edge, gazing at his olive terraces now off-limits due to settler harassment. “They no longer allow us to harvest,” he added. This summer, he added, settlers from a nearby hilltop set fire to land that came dangerously close to the village cemetery and the ruins of Taybeh’s 5th-century St. George Church.

Forced emigration from the Holy Land

At least a dozen families have been forced to emigrate from Taybeh, home to roughly 1,200 people, while others weigh emigration amid rising Israeli threats, economic hardship, and the daily strain of IOF checkpoints.

Among those who returned are Victor Barakat, a Catholic, and his wife, Nadeen Khoury, a Greek Orthodox who grew up in the village. They moved back from Massachusetts, hoping to raise their children “to learn the culture, the language, and family traditions.”

But the couple says security has deteriorated even more than during the Second Intifada of the early 2000s.

“Everyone is unsafe,” said Barakat. “You never know who’s going to stop you.”

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The family no longer allows their children to attend after-school activities due to road insecurity.

“The pause in Gaza gives some hope,” Barakat added, “but here in the West Bank, the agenda is still more complicated.”

Schools under Israeli siege

Taybeh’s churches run schools serving children from kindergarten through high school, along with sports and music programs. Yet educators say young people are growing up under constant fear.

“We don’t feel safe when we go from here to Ramallah or any other village,” Marina Marouf, vice principal of the Catholic school, told AP. “Always there is a fear, that we might be killed, or something terrible might happen.”

Students have sometimes been forced to shelter at school for hours while waiting for “flying checkpoints”,  temporary roadblocks that can appear and close without notice, cutting off movement across the West Bank.

Christians now make up only about 1–2% of the West Bank’s three million residents, down sharply over recent decades. Across West Asia, Israeli occupation and aggression has accelerated Christian forced emigration. Still, many in Taybeh see maintaining their presence in the land of Christ’s birth as an act of faith and defiance.

“I love my country because I love my Christ,” said Father Fawadleh. “My Christ is Ibn al-Balad, the son of the land.”

'The first duty we have here is to stay'

Church leaders and watchdog groups report rising anti-Christian harassment by Israeli settlers, especially in al-Quds’ Old City, where incidents like spitting on clergy by settlers have sparked alarm.

Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa has warned of worsening conditions in the West Bank, from settler violence to job scarcity and movement restrictions, saying more Christians may decide to leave.

For Franciscan priest Francesco Ielpo, recently appointed Custodian of the Holy Land, the mission remains clear.

“The first duty we have here is to stay,” he said. “We can’t stop the hemorrhage, but we will continue to be here,  alongside everyone.”

Ielpo believes the greatest challenge now is helping people resist despair and division. 

For villager Michael Hajjal, who worships at Taybeh’s Greek Orthodox church, the question is deeply personal.

“What kind of future can I create for my son while we’re under occupation and in this economic situation?” he asked. “Even teenagers say, ‘I wish I were dead.’”

 

 

 

 

 

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Despite the despair, Taybeh’s clergy persist in offering hope through youth programs, community work, and shared prayer.

“Still we are awaiting the third day as Palestinians,” Father Fawadleh said, invoking the Resurrection. “The third day, that means new life, freedom, and salvation for our people.”

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