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‘Hopeless’: Palestinian Christians leave West Bank as hardships mount

Palestinian Christians call themselves “living stones” and say they have lived continuously in the Holy Land for the last 2,000 years. Maybe not for much…

By Samantha Johnson / August 8, 2026

Palestinian Christians call themselves “living stones” and say they have lived continuously in the Holy Land for the last 2,000 years. Maybe not for much longer, believes Reverend Mitri Raheb.

“If the current conditions continue, there will not be a single Palestinian Christian left by 2050,” said Raheb, founder and president of Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus Christ.

Faced with growing uncertainty over economic and security conditions, hundreds of Christians have left since the war in the Gaza Strip began nearly three years ago.

Since the Gaza war began, attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank have become an almost daily occurrence, while the Israeli military has multiplied its operations and security checkpoints.

Issa Qassis, a 31-year-old entrepreneur, is considering leaving his family and the start-up he established in the West Bank city of Ramallah to immigrate to the United States.

“I started seriously thinking about it about a year ago,” said Qassis, adding he felt “frustrated and hopeless” about the situation.

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