Paper by the International Center for Consultation- Haifa

Events: the Israeli military issued a statement on July 23, 20251 claiming that “an intentional deviation of munitions” was behind the damage caused to the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza on July 17, 2025. In its mentioned statement, the military did not mention the fact that three Christian Palestinians were killed by its strike on the Church​ 2, but talked only of “injuries.”
On the other hand, the radical right wing Israeli “news agency” of “TPS” published a report 3 last Sunday (July 20, 2025) claiming as if residents of the Christian Palestinian town of Taybeh were the ones who torched their own fields and not settlers, as was reported following the arson which was reportedly committed by settlers near the ancient Church of Saint George in Taybeh on Tuesday (July 8, 2025).
Interestingly, Zvika Klein, the editor of the right wing Israeli newspaper “the Jerusalem Post”, wrote yesterday an editorial4 adopting practically the report that was made by “TPS”, which was based on reports made by members of “Hilltop Youths”, who are known in their repeated attacks not only Palestinians in the West Bank, but also on Israeli forces there.
General notes:
First, each of Gaza and Taybeh is located in Palestinian territory, which is recognized by International Law as occupied by Israel. Therefore, it is not acceptable that the occupier, who is the suspect in this case, is the one who investigates itself. There is a need for an independent, serious, and unbiased investigation.
Second, Israel acts mainly under pressure, especially if this comes from the United States. In most other cases of attacks, arson, and harassment, the Israeli authorities, especially the current radical right-wing government, refrained from acting or saying any word of apology​ 5.
Third, although it pretends to care for Christians, Israel in general, the current Israeli government in specific, discriminates systematically against Christians, at least for two main reasons: political (since the vast majority of Christians living in Israel and Israel-occupied areas are Palestinians), and ideological (since radical right Jews in general, dogmatic religious Jews in specific hate Christians due to theological reasons).
Fourth, it is difficult to expect to see justice in the case of Gaza and Taybeh, at least due to three different reasons. First, it is difficult to see systematic pressure on Israel for holding those responsible for the mentioned incidents accountable. Second, most Christian leaders, if not all of them, would stop demanding accountability from Israel
shooting of a mother and her daughter inside the compound of the Holy Family Church in Gaza on December 16, 2023. See also the lack of condemnation by the Israeli government of most attacks, harassment, and arson committed by Jews against Christians and/or Christian properties in the past two years.

After a while, due to various reasons, especially due to fear of punitive Israeli measures (such as cancellation or delays in issuing entry visas to clergymen). And third, due to experiences, such as in the cases of Shireen Abu Akleh6 and Alex Odeh7, in which these Palestinian-Americans lost their lives, while their killers were not brought to justice.
Notes about the incident in Gaza:
First, in its above-mentioned statement, the Israeli military hints as if it allowed the treatment of the injuries and church leaders to visit the Holy Family Church in Gaza. This is not a favor, but this is the minimum that the Israeli authorities have to do.
Furthermore, since it admitted responsibility, the Israeli authorities shall compensate the families of the killed persons and the wounded ones, in addition to compensating the church for the damages that were caused to it.
Second, some observers suspect that the shelling of the Church in Gaza was intentional. They believe that radical right-wing Israeli soldiers might be the ones who aimed, probably at hitting the cross on the top of the Church, since the hit was less than one meter from it (see the first photo below).
Anyhow, the change of the Israeli version from talking about ‘shrapnel’ that hit the Church, to ‘deviation of munition’ confirms the need for an independent investigation.
Third, despite “regretting” the incident and practically confirming responsibility for it, Israel refrained from punishing, even slightly, any of those who were responsible for the fire that hit the Church, killed three persons, wounded nine others, and caused damage to the holy site.
Notes on the incident in Taybeh:
First, settlers and their supporters rushed to accuse residents of Taybeh of being the ones who set the fire near Saint George Church at the town’s city center, at the argument as if Palestinians torch fields intentionally.
However, the settlers failed to offer evidence for this argument, and – above all – they refrained from offering an explanation why settlers were present at Taybeh when the fire was there.
Second, different testimonies indicate that settlers, led mainly by a man called Neria ben Pazi8, a prominent leader of the violent settlers’ group of the “Hilltop Youths”, have been invading fields belonging to Taybeh residents repeatedly. Some obtained photos show settlers’ cows inside Taybeh and near Saint George Church in the town center (see the second and third photos below).
Testimonies were collected from people in Taybeh, indicating fear among some field owners of going to their fields, and as such, losses in income were reported by several of those.
Third, collected testimonies from Taybeh reveal fears among parents of the possibility that their children to be killed by the settlers and/or Israeli troops who frequently accompany settlers in their invasions into Palestinian localities. This fact leads to ongoing concern about allowing young Palestinians to go to their family
fields, and sometimes even to walk freely inside their own town. People in Taybeh fear also from the ​”expansion appetite” of settlers, since they have already created some outposts on their lands​ 9 and in their vicinity.
Fourth, so far, there is no evidence that any of the settlers who were suspected of causing damage and/or invading private properties with their cattle in Taybeh were brought to justice by the Israeli authorities.
Fifth, the prominent pro-settlers Israeli news website “Channel 7” reported10 last week a meeting between top rabbis and “Hilltop Youths” in which the rabbis practically encouraged the violent settlers, but urged them not to use violence against the Israeli security establishment, while clearly hinting that they have no problem with violence against Palestinians.
Conclusions: a senior church leader in Europe was quoted telling Palestinian Christians following the recent incidents at Taybeh and Gaza: “unfortunately, the only players who target churches in the Middle East nowadays are Daesh, radical right wing Jews and the Israeli military.” While someone could understand the targeting of Christians by the first two groups, it is difficult to see the Israeli military, which claims to be the most moral military in the world, being involved in targeting churches in Gaza at least three times in less than two years, while nobody was held accountable for these tragic incidents in which 23 persons were killed.
On the other hand, Christians in the West Bank are treated by the Israeli authorities and settlers similarly to how other Palestinians are treated. The exception does not come necessarily from the Israeli side, but mainly from the Christian community, which is less daring than others to clash violently with settlers, and certainly not with Israeli troops, even when those invade their fields and properties.
In the era of social media in which we llive currently, it is difficult to hide things, and in case of not taking serious actions damages won’t be caused only to those who are harassed, but also to those who harass them (see for instance, the fact that even western ‘friends of Israel’ criticizing these acts and even imposing sanctions on some violent settlers).
Therefore, anyone who cares for justice or even just for Israel’s image will do good to demand accountability for each incident, such as those targeting the Christian communities of Taybeh and Gaza recently. Furthermore, a serious investigation by a third party is needed to guarantee respect for the result of the investigations, since it is obvious that most people, including some of Israel’s friends, would doubt the results of any investigation that is conducted by the suspect!

An ICC11 Position Paper, July 27, 2025

www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/idf-press-releases-israel-at-war/july-25-pr/idf-statement-regarding-accidental-hit-on-holy-family-church-in-gaza 1
2 Two women (Fumia Ayyad and Najwa Abu Daoud) and a man (Saed Salameh).
3 https://tps.co.il/articles/burning-questions-what-really-happened-at-taybehs-church/
4 https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-861878
5 See, for instance, the Israeli strike that killed 18 persons at the compound of Saint Porphyrious Church in Gaza on October 19, 2023, and the Israeli sniper

6 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/08/who-killed-shireen-abu-akleh
7 See: https://adc.org/alex-odeh-37-years-and-still-no-justice-for-a-civil-rights-hero/
8 Neria ben Pazi was sanctioned, together with three other settlers, last year by the European Union and the United Kingdom for repeated harassment of Palestinians, breaking into their properties in the area of Teybeh and other nearby Palestinian localities such as Deir Jrir.
9 See, for instance: https://www.alquds.com/en/posts/163096
10 See (Hebrew): https://www.inn.co.il/news/674561
11 The ICC stands for the “International Center for Consultations”, a Haifa-based think tank that offers consultancy services on Middle Eastern issues.