Bishop Jamal Daibes, Bishop of Djibouti and Apostolic Administrator of Somalia, has called on the international community to exert diplomatic pressure to end violence against Palestinians and safeguard their presence in the Holy Land. Speaking to Vatican News in Rome following an audience with Pope Leo XIV and the Conference of Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions (CELRA), the West Bank-born prelate warned that escalating fear and physical violence are driving Palestinians to consider leaving their ancestral home. At its core, he stressed, the conflict is not merely political, but a fundamental matter of human life, freedom, and basic dignity.
Addressing the worsening reality on the ground, Bishop Daibes highlighted recent escalation, including targeted settler attacks on Christian towns and villages supported by political leaders. He explained that these direct assaults, combined with the destruction of farmland, high taxes, and severe movement restrictions, are deliberately calculated to suffocate local livelihoods and intimidate the population into leaving. Despite these growing hardships and the proliferation of settlements designed to induce despair, he reaffirmed the determination of Palestinian Christians to remain as “living stones” in the land where Christianity has continuously existed since Pentecost.