West Bank churches warn Israel using taxes to seize land and property

Israeli settlers have repeatedly attacked the 1,500-year-old Saint George Monastery in the occupied West Bank, setting fires and establishing illegal outposts on its land. This is part of a broader campaign to forcibly expel Palestinian Christians and erase the area’s historic identity. Simultaneously, Israeli authorities are imposing illegal, retroactive taxes on church properties, violating a decades-old agreement that granted tax exemption. This tactic is seen as a pretext to eventually confiscate the land, which would cripple the churches’ schools, hospitals, and care homes. These attacks on the community’s existence challenge the Zionist narrative and violate historic legal agreements. The assaults, occurring alongside the war in Gaza, illustrate that Palestinian Christians are also targets of Israel’s occupation and policies of forcible transfer.

Al Jazeera’s Givara Budeiri reports from Taybeh, east of Ramallah.

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Post from Al Jazeera on August 20, 2025

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