Fr. Ibrahim Faltas warns, “The situation is dramatic” and there is “deep concern” about a future without Christians. In the crosshairs of settlers and the governing ultra-right a UNESCO heritage area near Bethlehem. Also in the West Bank an escalation of violence, destruction, arrests and deaths. Alice Kisiya’s “emblematic” story. Already more than 70 Christian families have migrated since the beginning of the war.

Under shadow of Gaza, Israeli government backs settlers expropriating Christian land

| ZENIT – English | 21/08/2024 | Dario Salvi |

(ZENIT News)- The attentions of the international community “are focused on Gaza, but in the West Bank itself there are so many problems: clashes, attacks, settlements that are increasing” as is happening these days in the Bethlehem area. “

Moreover, more than 10,000 Palestinians arrested,” since Oct. 7 is a ”sign of concern for the Church and for all of us, including the very many Christians who are emigrating. Over 70 families since the beginning of the war in Bethlehem alone, others in Jerusalem,” and for all there is a common consideration: ”There is no future for our children here and the situation is dramatic.”

From the words of Fr. Ibrahim Faltas, vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land, a picture emerges with gloomy hues for the future of Christians there where their story began, in the land of Jesus and the first disciples. “The Holy places without Christians, the West Bank without Christians, Bethlehem and Jerusalem without Christians,” he tells AsiaNews, ”are a source of deep concern.

The conflict in Gaza, the attacks by Jewish extremists and the attempted expropriation of Christian property are also joined by the acceleration on settlements by the Israeli government, confirmed by the words spoken in recent days by a senior executive. Indeed, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich officially announced the construction of a new settlement in Jabal al-Makhrur, near Beit Jala, near Bethlehem.

Following the news, there was immediate intervention by settlers and the army with joint assaults and subsequent expulsions of residents, as well as the declaration of a “closed military zone” for the area. Citizens and activists responded with a sit-in protest and refused to leave – despite the attacks – to defend what to date remains one of the last Palestinian Christian villages in the area.

Unesco heritage site

The area targeted by the new illegal settlement includes a UNESCO World Heritage site and has long been in the crosshairs of Israeli authorities, particularly the radical and religious right faction headed by Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. In a note circulated on his own X (formerly Twitter) profile, the finance chief stressed that “no anti-Israel and anti-Zionist decisions will stop settlement development.”

This begins precisely with the plan for Nahal Heletz in Gush Etzion, a protected territory. “We will continue,” Smotrich concludes, ”to fight against the dangerous project of creating a Palestinian state by creating facts on the ground. All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967 and now inhabited by some 700,000 Israeli settlers-including East Jerusalem-are considered illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have Israeli planning permission. Analysts and experts point out that the new project represents a further expropriation of what remains of Palestinian land in the Bethlehem area, which has been reduced to just over 10 percent from its origins. And the goal remains the expansion of “Jewish sovereignty” over all the land “from the river to the sea.”

Specifically, the new settlement will total about 60 hectares (148 acres) and received preliminary approval along with four others in June. Israeli anti-occupation activist movement Peace Now adds that it will flank homes in the Palestinian village of Battir, a world heritage site known for its stepped agricultural terraces, vineyards and olive groves.

The NGO denounced the project, calling it “an attack” on an area known “for its ancient terraces and sophisticated irrigation systems, evidence of thousands of years of human activity.” Israel’s actions pose “an imminent threat” to an area of high “cultural value to humanity.” Finally, concern is expressed by the U.N. Office for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), which in its note released yesterday stresses that a new settlement in the “strategic” area of Nahal Heletz will eventually “jeopardize” the livelihood and security of locals. And it poses a “significant threat” to the contiguity and viability of a Palestinian state.

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, three outposts have been retroactively “legalized” while settlers have established 25 new ones taking advantage of international disinterest and the ultra-right government’s colonial policy.