Clerics accuse West Bank settlers of attacking Christian sites
The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III - visiting the Christian town of Taybeh with other Jerusalem-based clerics - said settlers had started a fire near a cemetery and a 5th century church there last week.
"These actions are a direct and intentional threat to our local community ... but also to the historic and religious heritage," the patriarch told diplomats and journalists at a press conference in Taybeh.
Settlers had also attacked homes in the area, he said.
"We call for an immediate and transparent investigation on why the Israeli police did not respond to emergency calls from the local community and why these abhorrent actions continue to go unpunished," he added.
Israel's government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Israel's government had previously said that any acts of violence by civilians are unacceptable and that individuals should not take the law into their own hands.
During the visit, the heads of the churches led locals in prayer as candles flickered in the ruins of the 5th century church of St George. They spoke with residents who described their fears.
B'Tselem and other rights groups say settler violence in the West Bank has risen since the start of Israel's war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza in late 2023.
Dozens of Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian street attacks in recent years and the Israeli military has intensified raids across the West Bank.
Palestinian health authorities and witnesses said two men, including a U.S. citizen, were killed by settlers during a confrontation on Friday night.
Fears over violence were pushing Christians to leave the West Bank, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Roman Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem since 2020, said.
"Unfortunately, the temptation to emigrate is there because of the situation," he added. "This time it's very difficult to see how and when this will finish, and especially for the youth to talk about hope, trust for the future."
Around 50,000 Christian Palestinians live in Jerusalem and in the West Bank, an area that includes many of the faith's most sacred sites including Bethlehem where believers say Jesus was born.
Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war, which Palestinians see as part of a future state.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump to meet Qatar's PM to discuss Gaza ceasefire deal, Axios reports
July 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on Wednesday to discuss negotiations over a Gaza ceasefire deal, Axios reporter Barak Ravid posted on X. Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since July 6, discussing a U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire that envisages a phased release of hostages, Israeli troop withdrawals from parts of Gaza and discussions on ending the conflict. Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had said on Sunday that he was "hopeful" on the ceasefire negotiations underway in Qatar, a key mediator between the two sides. U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators have been working to secure an agreement, however, Israel and Hamas are divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave. The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel. Israel says Hamas killed 1,200 and took about 250 hostages. Gaza's health ministry says Israel's subsequent military assault has killed over 58,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza's entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations. A previous two month ceasefire ended when Israeli strikes killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18. Trump earlier this year proposed a U.S. takeover of Gaza, which was condemned globally by rights experts, the U.N. and Palestinians as a proposal of "ethnic cleansing." Trump and Sheikh Mohammed are also expected to discuss efforts to resume talks between the U.S. and Iran to reach a new nuclear agreement, Ravid added citing a source familiar with the matter.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Houthi-linked dealers sell arms on X and WhatsApp, report says
Arms dealers affiliated with Houthi militants in Yemen are using X and Meta platforms to traffic weapons – some US-made – in apparent violation of the social media firms' policies, a report has revealed. The Houthis, an Iran-backed group of rebels who have controlled swathes of Yemen since 2014, are designated as a terrorist organisation by the US, Canada and other countries. The report by the Washington DC-based Tech Transparency Project (TTP), which focuses on accountability for big tech, found Houthi-affiliated arms dealers have been openly operating commercial weapon stores for months, and in some cases years, on both platforms. Meta, which owns WhatsApp, and X are scaling back their content moderation policies at a moment when experts say disinformation and illicit trafficking is on the rise. The 130 Yemen-based X accounts and 67 WhatsApp business accounts identified by TTP offered high-powered rifles, grenade launchers and other military equipment for sale. Many of the arms dealers sold what appeared to be US-produced weapons, some emblazoned with 'Property of US Govt', as well as other western military weapons that were stamped with 'Nato'. The report does not specify the arms dealers' customers but given the high price of the weapons, with some rifles being sold for as much as $10,000 (£7,500), it is likely buyers could be other militants. X and Meta prohibit arms dealing on their platforms. Many of the arms dealers were subscribers to X Premium and users of WhatsApp Business – services that are supposed to be moderated. Katie Paul, the director of TTP, said: 'X and WhatsApp both have policies against weapons sales but they are allowing arms traders linked to a US-designated terrorist group to traffic weapons on their platforms. In some cases these companies may be profiting off violations of their own policies that create risks for US national security.' More than half of the X accounts listed their location as Sana'a, the Houthi-controlled capital of Yemen, and many regularly shared pro-Houthi content. Others sold weapons in containers marked with the Houthi logo, which states 'God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse be upon the Jews, victory to Islam'. Several accounts identified by TTP were subscribed to X Premium, which allowed them to post extended videos. One account featured an 'unboxing' video of an American M249 SAW, a light machine gun used by the US military. Other accounts used the tip feature, which allows X users to directly send donations to them. X prohibits the use of its platforms by individuals who 'promote [terrorist organisations'] illicit activities', and says it does not allow terrorist groups to use its premium services. Adverts appeared in the comments of posts selling weapons, suggesting X could be making money off the posts. In one instance, X placed an ad for a company selling Tesla accessories under a post where an arms dealer offered an 'all-American' Glock 17 handgun. After Elon Musk bought X in 2022, he laid off about 80% of the company's trust and safety team, which was dedicated to content moderation. A previous report by TTP found that more than 200 accounts affiliated with terrorist and other sanctioned groups had blue ticks and were subscribed to X Premium. A few of the Houthi-linked arms dealers interacted with Musk himself on X. When Musk posted a video of himself firing a Barret .50-caliber sniper rifle in September 2023, three arms dealers replied to him advertising their own guns, which included two AR-15s. X declined to comment on the findings of TTP's investigation when approached by the Guardian. Many of the arms dealers also used WhatsApp business accounts with the 'catalogue' feature, which allows a slideshow of products to be displayed, to showcase a catalogue of weapons. One such account offered dozens of guns, including a Glock pistol wrapped in a custom skin showing images of the Lincoln Memorial, the White House and an American colonial-era soldier with the words 'Preserve, Protect, Defend' written on it. WhatsApp says it reviews business account profiles and checks images before they are added to catalogues. It is unclear why the review process missed the images and accounts, many of which clearly identify themselves as arms dealers and link to Yemeni bricks-and-mortar gun shops in their biographies. A spokesperson for WhatsApp said: 'If we identify or are made aware of US-designated terrorist organisations attempting to use our service, we will take appropriate action – including banning accounts – to comply with our legal obligations.' WhatsApp then banned two accounts sent by the Guardian. It clarified that it did not make profit from the type of accounts in question, but it did not otherwise reply to questions as to how the company's review processes initially missed the arms dealers' accounts. Meta has laid off thousands of employees in the last two years, many dedicated to safety. In January, Meta vowed to roll back content moderation, in what seemed to be an acknowledgment of Donald Trump's complaints of censorship on social media platforms. TTP found that the vast majority of the Houthi-affiliated arms dealers' accounts on X and WhatsApp were created after the layoffs at both companies. Paul said: 'Both Meta and X have the capital, the tools and the human resources to address this problem, but they're not doing so.' Besides content moderation issues, TTP's findings also raised questions about global arms smuggling. Taimur Khan, the head of Gulf regional operations at Conflict Armament Research, said tracing exactly how US-made weapons got to Houthi-held territory was difficult and there were several possible explanations. Some of the weapons, particularly the American M4 rifles, were possibly from stocks supplied to Yemeni government forces before 2014 that were seized by the Houthis when they launched their insurgency. Khan said other US weapons being sold by the accounts appeared 'to have been diverted more recently' and were made for civilian customers rather than soldiers. Those weapons could have been trafficked from the US to Yemen through the Gulf and elsewhere in the region or by other means, he added. Non-American weapons are also smuggled into Yemen along other regional trafficking routes. They are also supplied directly to the Houthis via their allies, such as Iran. Earlier this year, the US imposed sanctions on a Houthi arms smuggling network that was accused of procuring 'tens of millions of dollars'' worth of Russian weapons with the assistance of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. 'The arms that are being advertised in Houthi-controlled areas by weapon dealers, who are at some level linked to the Houthis, reflect all the different vectors of supply in Yemen,' Khan said.
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
UN council authorizes continuing vigilance of attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Red Sea shipping
The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday authorized continued reporting on attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi rebels, who have defied its previous demands to immediately halt all such attacks. The vote in the 15-member council was 12-0 with Russia, China and Algeria abstaining because of attacks against Yemen in violation of its sovereignty, a clear reference to U.S. airstrikes against the Houthis who control most of northern Yemen. The Trump administration has carried out the strikes because of the group's attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on close ally Israel. The resolution, cosponsored by the United States and Greece, extends the requirement that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres provide monthly reports to the Security Council about Houthi attacks in the Red Sea until Jan. 15, 2026. Acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea said the resolution recognizes the need for continued vigilance 'against the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist threat.' She cited the two latest attacks by Houthis against civilian cargo vessels, the MV Magic Seas and the MV Eternity C, which caused both vessels to sink and led to the loss of innocent seafarers and saw crew members taken hostage. 'The United States strongly condemns these unprovoked terrorist attacks, which demonstrate the threat that the Houthis pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security,' Shea said, reiterating the council's demand for an immediate halt to Houthi attacks and the release of all crew members kidnapped from the Eternity C. The assaults represent the latest chapter of the rebels' campaign against shipping over the war in Gaza that began with Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attack in southern Israel. They also come as Yemen's nearly decadelong war drags on in the Arab world's poorest country, without any sign of stopping. Greece's U.N. Ambassador Evangelos Sekeris said the Houthi attacks have continued to fuel mistrust in the international maritime community, stressing that security and freedom of navigation are essential for the stability of global supply chains and economic development. 'If the Red Sea region — a critical international maritime route — becomes even more degraded, it will expose the international community to more acute security risks and economic uncertainty,' he warned. Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said Moscow abstained because language in the previous resolution demanding a halt to Houthi attacks was arbitrarily interpreted to justify 'the use of force affecting the territory of the sovereign state of Yemen.' 'We stand convinced that any steps aimed at stabilizing the situation in Yemen and around Yemen should be taken in political and diplomatic ways,' he said. China's deputy U.N. ambassador Geng Shuang said his country abstained because 'certain countries took military action against Yemen, which seriously impacted the Yemeni peace process and exacerbated tensions in the Red Sea.' The Houthis have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group's leadership has described as an effort to end Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza. Shuang called tensions in the Red Sea 'a major manifestation of the spillover from the Gaza conflict.' Russia's Polyansky also stressed the link between normalizing the situation in the Red Sea and the need for a ceasefire in Gaza and release of all hostages. Algeria's deputy U.N. ambassador Toufik Koudri, whose country is the Arab representative on the Security Council, expressed regret the Yemen resolution demanding an immediate halt to Houthi attacks made no mention of the Gaza war, which he called 'one of the catalytic factors.' 'The Security Council cannot disregard the clear nexus between the attacks in the Red Sea and the aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the deep feelings that resulted from the brutal massacres committed against innocent civilians,' he said.
