Buried in the cacophony of war in Iran and in Lebanon, the underreported silent suffering of Palestinians continues in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank. The land, often spoken of as “the Holy Land,” has a historic, and for some, a sacred connection among Jewish, Christian and Muslim citizens of the United States. Therefore, what happens in Israel/Palestine, in a sense, happens to all of us.
The crashing of bombs and missiles upon Iran and Lebanon must not be allowed to muffle the awareness of the explosions in Gaza nor the military and settlers’ guns, the stones and the vandalism in the West Bank. While world attention has been centered upon Iran and Lebanon, six Palestinians have been killed by settlers, the UN said.
Awareness is the first step toward bringing an end to the carnage and suffering of the Palestinian people. Two incidents in the West Bank and Jerusalem have broken through the silence to expose the plight of the Palestinian people. The World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel evacuated 11 of its international volunteers. These volunteers, some from the U.S., observe and report on the life of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. Their need to be evacuated is the result of the serious life-threatening conditions they have witnessed, involving Israeli military and Israeli settler violence against Palestinians. Even their identifying vests are no guarantee the they will be safe in the midst of the escalating conflict.
The second incident involved Israeli police preventing several heads of local churches from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, as they made their way to celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass. This was the first time in centuries that the heads were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
At least 4,765 Palestinians from 97 locations have been displaced by settler violence between January 2023 and mid-February 2026, according to the UN’s humanitarian office. There has already been a stark increase in both Palestinian injuries and displacement from 2025 averages, according to the Church World Service.
The military actions of the U.S. and Israel against Iran and the Israeli war against Hezbollah in Lebanon continue to dominate the news. At the same time, the ceasefire in Gaza has not ended the violence and death in the territory. In the West Bank, Israeli Defense Forces continue to defend the aggression of Israeli settlers against Palestinians, conduct the demolition of Palestinian homes, set up checkpoints to restrict the movement of Palestinians and protect new Israeli settlements. It is important to recognize U.S. complicity with Israel’s actions that violate international law and ethical imperatives. For example, as a volunteer accompanier with Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel, I witnessed Israeli military carrying U.S. weapons at checkpoints in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory.
We must continue to accompany, in mind and spirit, those homeless, hungry, injured and grieving men, women and children who live in the West Bank and in Gaza. One way to do this is to urge the U.S. to withhold all military aid to Israel as long as it’s used for the oppression of Palestinians. Also, accompanying the Palestinians in their time of distress means telling their story to all who will listen. And it means flipping the relationship of Israel and the U.S. with the Palestinians from treating them as enemies to treating them as good neighbors. This action would establish security for both. Now that would be news worth reporting!
John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing. He served as an EAPPI volunteer in 2010. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com.