The 1967 Occupation is not just unlawful. It is evil.

Posted: 13th February 2026

In July 2024 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advised that the 1967 Occupation of Gaza, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank is unlawful, and so it is. I go further: it is evil. It distorts and seeks to destroy the lives of Palestinians – Muslims, Christians, people of all faiths and none. The Occupation does not differentiate. I believe that it also demeans and damages psychologically those who implement it, causing lasting harm. Britain must endorse the ICJ opinion and work to end the 1967 Occupation.

Christians are leaving the land of Christ’s birth. They do so reluctantly – like all Palestinians they feel a deep attachment to their land. They leave because they cannot see a future of hope under Occupation. The young are leaving with their parents’ blessing. The wish of any parent is that their children will be healthy and happy. The Occupation harms health and destroys hope. It needs to end, peacefully, for the good of all.

Below is a summary of remarks by Father Fadi Diab in Advent, leading up to Christmas. He speaks his truth.

The Christian Churches in Britain are waking up to the enormity of crimes committed daily in Gaza and the West Bank. Below his remarks is a letter to The Guardian (1 February) by three Anglican Bishops who visited the West Bank in January. They are shocked that our Government has yet to endorse the advice of the ICJ that the Occupation is unlawful, that all states have a duty to bring it to an end, and in the meantime must do nothing to prolong it.

Our country, our Government should lead this work, giving a lead to the like-minded –  inter alia by banning all trade with illegal Israeli settlements – in goods, services and investment. The settlements are on stolen land. Accepting their produce and engaging with them is aiding and abetting robbery.

Yours sincerely,


Sir Vincent Fean, Trustee
Britain Palestine Project

Christians in the Holy Land –  remarks by Father Fadi Diab, 
Rector, St Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Ramallah
 

The 10 October “ceasefire” in Gaza meant that the genocide had slowed down – not stopped. Israel could attack with impunity. Hamas claimed that there were well over 400 Israeli breaches since 10 October. Worryingly, there were still Hamas fighters stuck in tunnels in Rafah – the Arab mediators and the US were trying to negotiate a peaceful outcome. Israel was restricting food access into Gaza. That meant that prices locally went sky-high. The number of lorries allowed entry was misleading – some of them carried only half a load or less, following excessive Israeli checks.

There were still 550 Christians seeking refugee in the two Gaza churches – one Greek Orthodox, the other Catholic. Many had collected their papers and were preparing to leave Gaza. When the Rafah crossing into Egypt reopened fully, 90% of the Christians would leave. They had lost everything. So the last vestiges of the Christian presence in Gaza would disappear. Who could blame them? Gaza was unliveable. Mr Netanyahu might not be able to drive them into Egypt – but he was making it impossible for them to survive in Gaza. They had to emigrate. Things would be clearer when the borders reopened. Already many were leaving; some via Erez, transitting through Israel. At Erez there was an Israeli office to facilitate Palestinian emigration.  Israel was facilitating flights of Gazans from Israeli airports to eg South Africa.

 4,700 Palestinians, including 300 children, were held as administrative detainees or “unlawful combatants”, without access by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Israeli army held 53% of Gaza, with 90% of the population trying to survive in the remaining 47%. Although a U.S.led Civil Military Coordination Centre had been set up in Israel, in reality Israel (COGAT) still decided who and what could enter or leave Gaza.

Since October 2023, Israel had increased its military activities in the West Bank, with full impunity. In late November, two young Palestinian men were shot dead by the army after giving themselves up, hands raised. National Security Minister Ben Gvir ordered the release of the soldiers who killed those Palestinians, and objected to an investigation into their deaths. If the sequence of actions had not been filmed, we would never have known the truth. But in fact, such events were multiplied across the West Bank. Extrajudicial killings. Nowadays, the Israeli army shot to kill, even if it was perfectly possible to arrest suspects.

In Jenin and Tubas, a curfew was imposed for several days. The army bulldozers caused grave damage to infrastructure. There were mass arrests of Palestinians. More and more gates locking in towns and villages. Settler violence was very frightening. The October olive harvest this year was an economic failure: farmers were not allowed access to pick their olives. The settlers were egged on by Israeli Government Ministers, and protected/supported by the Israeli army.

The Anglican Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, had witnessed and been subject to harassment by settlers twice during his West Bank visit in late 2025. The Israeli police had asked the Archbishop to leave, fearing settler violence which the police would not prevent. This was just one example of daily occurrences in the West Bank. If a VIP visitor was subjected to such intimidation, just think what happened to Palestinians… The result was that people did not travel in the West Bank if they could avoid it, because of settlers on the roads.

Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich was threatening to stop financial cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian banks, which shared a common currency:  the Israeli shekel. If that link was broken, chaos would follow. Smotrich’s threat was real. The Palestinian economy would collapse if he carried out his threat. The Palestinian financial system would be cut off from the world. Israel was putting more and more pressure on the weakened Palestinian economy.

There was a serious risk of violence – not only against Israel as the occupying power but against the Palestinian Authority for failing to safeguard and sustain Palestinian livelihoods. Now, Palestinian teachers were on strike against the PA’s failure to pay them their full salary for the last 4 years. They were receiving only 50% or 60% of what they were owed. Teachers were devastated at not being able to travel safely to teach in their schools. The economy was on the brink of collapse. Palestinians were hoarding cash in case their banks failed.

Christmas was customarily a time of hope. But people were very scared. Not enough work. Businesses collapsing. Parents could not provide for their children… Christians were leaving Bethlehem and Ramallah. The young were leaving. Two families had left for Spain and Germany in Late November. Most were trying to leave. Five years ago there were 48,000 Christians in Palestine. Now the number was down to 36,000. If there was no political solution to end the occupation, the Christians would leave. Priests like Father Fadi would not abandon their people but the groups would shrink.

The international community seemed powerless to intervene. They had left it all to the USA: a bad decision. The US could not be trusted. That was becoming clearer by the day. The presence of Hamas in Gaza was a strategic gain for Israel and for the US. It prolonged the separation of Gaza from the West Bank. The outcome was a disempowered Hamas in Gaza and a disempowered Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. It was possible that Hamas might decommission its heavy weapons in Gaza. A disempowered Hamas was part of the strategic plan to prevent the emergence of a Palestinian State.

Father Fadi helped to write the second Kairos document: “A moment of truth: Faith in a time of Genocide”, published on 14 November. It was a strong statement, and it needed to be so, in light of the Gaza genocide and apartheid/ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. The message was that the international church should act. It entailed “costly solidarity” – solidarity at a cost. The document had elicited a very powerful reaction from the international community. The authors believed they were called upon to speak the truth, and to read the signs of the times. The document might lead to Israeli retaliation – but really, things were already so bad that the Palestinian churches needed to speak out. The Palestinians were deprived of rights. Ramallah itself was a prison. People were held up for three hours at checkpoints. Father Fadi could not visit his Archbishop Hosam Naoum in Jerusalem: no Israeli permit for over a year.

C of E bishops criticise UK inaction over Israel’s ‘West Bank de facto annexation’
 

Having returned from another visit to Palestine, we are incredulous that the UK government has still not published its legal response to the international court of justice’s advisory opinion in July 2024. This inaction has contributed to a culture of impunity that the Israeli government has used to accelerate its de facto annexation of the West Bank.

Its instruments are administrative changes, continuous settlement expansion and growth, intensifying violence by Israeli troops and settler militia, the localised system of road closures, house demolitions, tightening access to water and electricity, deepening legal segregation and an unequal system of governance.

While world leaders met in Davos to debate futuristic plans for the reconstruction of Gaza, which are largely disconnected from reality, we visited and listened to Palestinian Christian communities across the West Bank on their lived experience. Once more, we have heard from families living in fear and torment – an unending nightmare where they are denied even minimal dignity. The violence has robbed them of the ability to earn a living and provide for their families.

Terrorised to the point of fearing for their lives, there is no one to protect them. Faced with such abandonment, and denied any agency as to their future, many now feel they have no choice but to leave or to die standing. This seems to be the Israeli government’s intentional strategy.

The international community must uphold its obligations under international law to protect Palestinians. The only way is to uphold the ICJ advisory opinion. Having formally recognised the state of Palestine, the British government must publish its response and take all necessary measures “not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, as the court stipulated.

The situation in the West Bank is a tragedy foretold. We must stand up and do the right thing before it’s too late.

The Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani Bishop of Chelmsford
The Rt Rev Rachel Treweek Bishop of Gloucester
The Rt Rev Graham Usher Bishop of Norwich