Israel Police Probe Debunks Palestinian Claims, Historic Church Not Damaged in Fire
The Israel Police: “Contrary to misleading reports, no damage was caused to the Church of Saint George in Taybeh. The fire was limited to an adjacent open area, not the holy site.”
Palestinian claims that Jewish residents set fire to a Byzantine-era church in a West Bank village earlier this month have been refuted by an investigation conducted by an Israeli news agency and new evidence released by the police.
On Monday, the Israeli police said in a statement that the 1,500-year-old Church of St. George in the majority Christian village of Taybeh was not set ablaze earlier this month and accusations of an arson attack are “factually incorrect and devoid of any evidentiary basis.”
An aerial image released by the police shows that the fire was confined to a nearby open field, away from the historic church.
Contrary to misleading reports, no damage was caused to the Church of Saint George in Taybeh. The fire was limited to an adjacent open area, not the holy site. Emergency services received reports from local residents, including both Israelis and one Palestinian caller. The… pic.twitter.com/eFicgMPLQJ
— Israel Police (@israelpolice) July 21, 2025
Additionally, a detailed investigative report published by the Israeli news agency Tazpit Press Service (TPS) further debunked those allegations. Contrary to the Palestinian narrative, Jewish residents of the area were the first to report the fire near the church and rushed to extinguish it. The investigation “found evidence of firefighting efforts by local Jewish residents and raised serious doubts about the fire’s origin — casting a shadow over the political motivations behind the allegation,” the news agency reported Sunday.
Ambassador Mike Huckabee, who visited the site on Saturday, welcomed the police findings on X.
Investigation reveals no damage to ancient church in Taybeh & investigation of origin of fire continues. I have NOT attributed the cause of fire to any person or group as we don't know for sure. The press has. I have said that regardless, it was crime & deserves consequences. https://t.co/xVoGUFJcym
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) July 22, 2025
The Israeli media website Ynetnews, on Tuesday, reported the details of the police investigation:
A police statement said a special investigative unit found “no damage was caused to the holy site, and the reports are factually incorrect.” The investigation followed media claims that Jewish individuals had set fire to the Church of Saint George in Taybeh, a majority-Christian village near Ramallah.
The incident occurred Saturday, when a fire broke out in an open area near the village. Police said a preliminary probe determined the fire was local in nature and did not harm buildings, agricultural land or infrastructure.
“Contrary to inaccurate reports and foreign media coverage of alleged arson at the historic Church of Saint George, these claims are factually incorrect, lack any evidentiary basis and risk misleading the public,” police said.
District Commander Moshe Pinchi ordered the creation of both an investigative team and a review committee, led by the deputy district commander, to assess the police response and internal communications related to the event.
According to the Jerusalem-based TPS news agency, their probe “found evidence of firefighting efforts by local Jewish residents.”
“[S]everal young men from the adjacent Jewish farm can be seen running up the hill with fire extinguishing equipment and reflective vests, attempting to put out the flames — not start them,” the news agency said after analysing the video footage from the incident.
Excerpts of the investigative report published by the news agency:
An independent investigation by The Press Service of Israel has uncovered critical inconsistencies in claims that radical Israelis deliberately set fire to a 1,500-year-old church in the Palestinian village of Taybeh. Contrary to the widely reported accusation, TPS-IL found evidence of firefighting efforts by local Jewish residents and raised serious doubts about the fire’s origin — casting a shadow over the political motivations behind the allegation made by a prominent Christian leader in the Holy Land.
On July 14, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, joined by Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and diplomats from 20 countries, visited the Church of St. George in the Binyamin region. “Radical Israelis from nearby settlements intentionally set fire near the town cemetery and the church of St. George,” Theophilis III declared.
“This is not only a violation of property, but a targeted attack on a community that has long been a symbol of coexistence and peace,” Theophilos said.
The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem urged a transparent investigation into the attacks, calling on Israeli authorities to hold the perpetrators accountable. (…)
However, a closer inspection of the footage reveals something different: several young men from the adjacent Jewish farm can be seen running up the hill with fire extinguishing equipment and reflective vests, attempting to put out the flames — not start them.
Video footage circulating on social media showed the teenager with what appeared to be a compressed air blower often used to help control and extinguish brush fires. But Palestinian social media posts labeled him an arsonist.
TPS-IL spoke to one of the shepherds involved in the incident. Because he is a minor, he is being identified as Y. He told TPS-IL he was in the field grazing the animals when suddenly, a fire started a few meters away that scared them. Y. called the farmer to report the fire and tried to smother the fire with his shirt. While he was doing that, he saw several Palestinians coming out of the cemetery, shouting and throwing things at him.
Furthermore, separate fires on July 7, 8, and 11 were documented in areas of pastureland dozens of meters away from the church compound. In all cases, a Jewish farmer whose farm is next to the church compound complained to the police that someone had torched the area where his shepherd was grazing. TPS-IL has obtained time-stamped documentation of these reports.
Although the dates precisely match with the reports filed by the adjacent Jewish farmers, the same incidents are being interpreted in starkly different ways.
The Israel Police told TPS-IL the case is being handled by a Special Investigative Team and called on anyone with relevant information to notify them right away.
Israel Ganz, who is chairman of the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization representing the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria, told TPS-IL, “We are being subjected to vicious blood libels from Palestinian elements who seek to harass settlement in Judea and Samaria and to create conflict between us and communities and between countries. I hope that all those concerned will delve into the matter and become familiar with what is happening on the ground – as has been proven time and time again, there are many false reports that are part of the Palestinians’ international war against settlement and the State of Israel.”
A video shared by Eliyana Fenistin, an official with the nearby Jewish communities, also proved that the ancient holy site was not damaged in the fire. She stressed that the Jewish residents of the area were committed to finding the arsonists and questioned the motives behind Palestinian accusations.
🚨🚨 Eliyana Fenistin, head of the Foreign Desk at the Benjamin Council, visited the church in Taybeh and found: The church was not burned, and the structure is made of stone, not wood. The video debunks the false accusations and presents the facts as they are—no Jew harmed or… pic.twitter.com/7r1gBGIIAO
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) July 21, 2025
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Comments
It’s nice that so called Christians are joining in with the terrorists to smear Jews.
since the beginning some christians acted just like moos —lums doing their best to eliminate any challengers to their supremacy
I wonder what they think the palis will do to them if they were in total control?
I’m not surprised in the least.
George Habash, leader of the PFLP, was Christian.
The Greek Orthodox Church, as well as the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, like almost all middle-eastern Christians, have a long and bloody history of antisemitism. A common maxim among them was “The only thing worse than a Turk is a Jew”. While over the last 70 years or so most Western churches have repented and renounced their past antisemitism, the Eastern churches have not. They still preach Jew-hatred, and openly support the PLO and other terrorist groups. About 50 years ago an Eastern Catholic archbishop was caught smuggling weapons to terrorists in his official car; rather than disown him, the head of his church openly praised and supported him, and condemned Israel for trying and sentencing him to prison. The Vatican itself begged Israel to release him after he’d served 4 years of a 12 year sentence, and welcomed him to live in Rome.
There’s nothing better than a fact-free slur of the LPJ — a Roman Catholic diocese — while Legal Insurrection maintains radio silence about the IDF attack that hit Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza. A statement from the IDF that “we’re investigating” is once again sufficient to assure everyone that “mistakes were made, but not by us.”
It’s a war zone. In war things get hit, sometimes not the things you’re aiming at. The priority is to kill the enemy soldiers, not to protect enemy civilians (not that there are any innocent civilians in Gaza, at least none over kindergarten age), let alone random buildings. If it were the US Army you wouldn’t complain, but the IDF is different?!
And yes, the Latin Patriarchate is a Roman Catholic diocese, and it is thoroughly antisemitic and always has been. And yes, not only did a Catholic church in communion with Rome praise and support its terrorist archbishop, but the Roman church got him out of prison and welcomed him to Rome, and gave him support and a home for the rest of his miserable and hateful life. That is not how a church that claims to have renounced antisemitism would behave. The last several popes have said all the right things, but the bureaucracy under them has not changed and is still the same hateful church it always was.
turn the middle east into the Trump country club
and lets go
Blaming Israel first, investigate later, but people only remember that the Jews did it. Huckabee, who is otherwise a friend of Israel, should be ashamed of himself for getting snookered by pro-terrorist propaganda.
” I have NOT attributed the cause of fire to any person or group as we don’t know for sure. The press has.”
And then refuse to believe the investigation because after all it was conducted by Jews & everyone knows they always lie.
“He told TPS-IL he was in the field grazing the animals when suddenly, a fire started a few meters away that scared them.”
Shades of Luke 2:8-9…
I don’t think you’ll find anyone as fascinated by historical sites as I am, but it doesn’t look like there’s much that can burn at the Church of St. George.