Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation

On 14 October 2026, Bethlehem University signed a strategic academic partnership agreement with Sapienza University of Rome. The agreement supports the new Hamad Harazeen Faculty of Applied Sciences, Technology and Engineering, funded through the Khair Inc. Foundation by Palestinian businessman Hamad Harazeen.

It establishes a framework for double-degree pathways that ...

The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land (ACOHL) met on October 15-16, 2026, together with the region’s pontifical representatives. Members received updates on the state of Christian communities and relations with civil authorities, noting that war, violence, political instability, movement restrictions, and visa issues continue to affect daily life, with the Chur...

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization warns that Gaza farmers face growing risks as they try to return to their fields. The so-called “Yellow Line,” controlled by the Israeli military, is expanding into western Gaza, limiting farmers’ access to their land and preventing them from planting new crops.

Separately, UNICEF reports that more than 340 children have been ...

Archimandrite Ioustinos Mamalos, a member of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, died on 1 October 2026 after a long illness. The Patriarchate is arranging for his remains to be returned to the Holy Land for burial. He devoted more than 40 years to the Sanctuary of the Samaritan Woman in Nablus, where tradition places Christ’s encounter with the Samaritan Woman, taking cha...

Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians in several West Bank villages this harvest season, including the Christian town of Taybeh. New Israeli rules imposed this harvest bar Palestinians from working in Area C, which covers most of the territory’s agricultural land, and Taybeh has about two-thirds of its land located in that zone.

Father Bashar Fawadleh, the Cathol...