![Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III stand together during a visit by the head clergymen of several Christian denominations to the fifth-century Church of St George in the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh, northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on July 14, 2025. [Photo by ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/GettyImages-2224469741-1.jpg)
Two US senators this week visited a historic church in Taybeh in the central West Bank, a Christian town often facing attacks by illegal Israeli settlers, Anadolu reports. Extremist settlers set ablaze one of the outer walls of the Church of St. George in July, drawing a global wave of condemnation from Christian leaders worldwide. “We’re here overall because we want to focus on the really terrible situation throughout this area, including the war in Gaza,” Senator Van Hollen told Qatari Al Jazeera television. The US senator stressed the necessity of ending Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Hollen said he and Senator Jeff Merkley visited the families of five Palestinian Americans killed […]
