TAYBEH, Occupied West Bank*—On Sunday, the Israeli military declared the Palestinian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank a closed military zone, claiming the order was aimed to prevent escalating attacks by marauding Israeli settlers. It ostensibly bars Israelis and foreigners from entering the area.

But residents of the village and the surrounding area told Drop Site News that the military order is designed to further isolate Taybeh from the outside world, barring solidarity activists from the area while allowing settler attacks to continue. One of the few Christian-majority Palestinian villages in the West Bank, Taybeh has come under growing attacks by Israeli settlers who have expanded colonial outposts encircling it over the past several weeks.

“The order says that Israelis and foreigners are prohibited from entering the area. What about the settler roaming around the area? What is he? Is he Israeli or not? Why is he in the area?,” said Jack Abed, the priest of the Greek Catholic Church in Taybeh. “This order is intended to prevent human rights defenders from being present to defend us against what these settler thugs are doing—attacking us in an extremely brutal manner.”