Pope Leo XIV appealed for an end to violence against Palestinian Christians on Sunday and called on the international community to increase diplomatic and mediation efforts.
“I renew my appeal for an end to the ongoing violence against the Palestinian civilian population in the West Bank,” Leo told pilgrims and tourists gathered for the traditional Angelus prayer on Sunday outside the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo.
“I urgently call on the international community to work toward advancing the two-state solution, for a just and lasting peace,” Leo also said.
The village of Taybeh has seen increasingly intense and frequently violent incursions by Israeli settlers over the past several months, leading the Israeli military last week to declare the town a “closed military zone,” and prohibiting entry to non-residents.
An Israeli military spokesperson said the restriction applies only to Israelis – not Palestinians – and was enacted to “protect residents in the area” following “several violent attacks by Israelis in the region.”
Observers including a leading British bishop, however, expressed concern over the decision.
Bishop James Curry, auxiliary of Westminster and Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW), expressed his concern at the move in a statement published Wednesday.
“I was deeply alarmed to hear that Taybeh has been declared a closed military zone prohibiting Israelis, foreign nationals, and journalists from entering” Curry said. “It is claimed that this is designed to prevent attacks on residents by Israeli settlers,” Curry said, “but it is far from clear that this move will achieve that objective.”
The attacks have been increasing in frequency and intensity for more than a year.
Located in the central Ramallah highlands of the Palestinian West Bank, Taybeh remained for years a quiet and secure center of life and commerce, with ancient churches and archaeological treasures dating back to the Roman era, along with thriving local businesses.
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The settler violence had already begun by July of last year, when the Greek Orthodox and Latin patriarchs issued a joint appeal and denounced Israeli authorities for “facilitat[ing] and enabl[ing]” attacks on Taybeh and the surrounding area, which is dotted with encroaching illegal Israeli settlements.
RELATED: Christian leaders condemn violence by Israeli settlers on West Bank town
“The attacks by the hands of settlers against our community, which is living in peace, must stop, both here in Taybeh and elsewhere throughout the West Bank. This is clearly part of the systematic attacks against Christians that we see unfolding throughout the region,” the patriarchs said in their statement on July 14, 2025.
Just this past week, the Catholic parish priest Taybeh denounced the “climate of fear” he said settlers are sowing with the intention of driving locals from their land.
RELATED: Israeli settlers creating ‘climate of fear’ for West Bank Christians
In an interview with Vatican News, Father Bashar Fawadleh from Taybeh explained the immense pressure locals were under from settlers, including intimidation, seizures of properties, and efforts to expand settlements.
“It is a deliberate strategy of harassment designed to create a climate of fear and [to] pressure Palestinian families into leaving their land,” the priest said.
“We feel forgotten,” he said, “and we feel entirely alone,” adding that legal options are “very limited and rarely effective.”
“[I]nternational presence and pressure are vital right now,” he said. “We need concrete protection for civilians and genuine political will to bring an end to this violence,” the priest said.
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