The Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine strongly condemned the demolition by the Israeli occupation forces of a home and the destruction of agricultural land belonging to the Christian Abed family in the Al-Sakki area in Birzeit, as well as the forced displacement of the family of Bashir Naeem Kouna from their home in the town of Taybeh, east of Ramallah, following sustained threats and attacks by settlers.
The Committee affirmed that these actions constitute a blatant violation of international law and are part of a systematic policy targeting Palestinians, their land, and their property. This policy seeks to seize Palestinian lands and homes and impose a new settlement reality by force, threatening the Palestinian presence as a whole, including the deeply rooted Christian presence.
It noted that the Kouna family had moved into their home in Taybeh after investing substantial sums in its construction and fully preparing it for their family. They had been in the home for only one week before being forcibly compelled to leave. The Committee stressed that this incident is a stark reflection of the scale and severity of the ongoing attacks against Palestinians, their homes, and their property.
The Committee further stressed that the ongoing actions in Taybeh, Birzeit, Qusra, Jalud, and across the West Bank—including Jerusalem, Masafer Yatta, the Jordan Valley, Nablus, Bethlehem, and Al-Mughayyir—and extending to the Gaza Strip, are part of a sustained and systematic policy of home demolitions, land destruction, seizure of property, and forcible displacement.
Reaffirming that Palestinian Christians are an integral and inseparable part of the Palestinian people, the Committee emphasized that they are deeply rooted in Palestine’s history and identity. Targeting their homes, lands, and property is therefore an attack not only on individual families and communities, but on the Palestinian presence as a whole.
The Committee called on the international community to uphold its legal and political responsibilities and to take serious and effective action to end these violations and ensure accountability for those responsible.
It further stressed that policies of demolition, land and property seizure, and forced displacement will not succeed in uprooting the Palestinian people from their land, erasing its Palestinian identity and history, or imposing a new reality by force. The steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their determination to remain on their land, hold on to their homes and property, and uphold their rights will remain stronger than all attempts to uproot them and alter the reality on the ground.
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