Israeli Forces Demolish Christian Home in Birzeit; Another Family Displaced in Taybeh

The Presidential Higher Committee for Church Affairs condemned the demolition of a home and the razing of agricultural land belonging to the Christian Abed family in the al-Saqi area of Birzeit, north of Ramallah. The committee stated that Israeli forces carried out these actions in the occupied West Bank, describing the events as violations of international law.

In a separate incident, the committee reported that the Christian family of Bashir Naim Kouna was forced to leave their home in the town of Taybeh, east of Ramallah. According to the committee, the family departed following persistent threats and attacks by Israeli occupiers.

The Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights stated that the Kouna family had moved into the house only about a week earlier. The organization noted that the family had spent more than 1 million shekels, approximately $300,000, building and furnishing the home over a period of seven years.

The church affairs committee described the demolition, land razing, and displacement as part of a policy aimed at seizing Palestinian land and imposing settlement expansion by force. The committee emphasized that attacks on the homes and lands of Palestinian Christians constitute an attack on the entire Palestinian presence, asserting that Christians are an integral part of Palestinian history and identity.

The committee stated that demolitions, land seizures, and forced displacement continue across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Masafer Yatta, the Jordan Valley, and the governorates of Nablus, Bethlehem, and Ramallah, as well as in the Gaza Strip. It called on the international community to halt these violations and hold those responsible accountable.

Taybeh is identified as the only remaining Palestinian town whose population is entirely Christian. The committee warned that Israeli attacks on Christian communities are threatening their deeply rooted presence in Palestine, noting that the population of Taybeh is falling as growing numbers of Christian families have been forced to leave Palestine since 2023 amid escalating attacks.

The committee characterized these assaults as part of an ongoing pattern involving occupier violence, land confiscation, illegal settlement expansion, and restrictions on freedom of worship. In an earlier statement on August 11, the committee warned that such attacks are no longer isolated incidents but represent a sustained threat to the Christian community in the region.

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