JERUSALEM: Palestinian Christians near Bethlehem yesterday urged Pope Francis to speak up against an Israeli decision to build its controversial separation barrier on a route they say would cut off their community.
"We cry to your Holiness with a feeling of despair and urgency in order to keep alive our hope that justice and peace is still possible," said an open letter from the Christians of Beit Jala, a town near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
"The Israeli military occupation that has already started building the 'famous wall' annexing Palestinian land... (is) separating Bethlehem as well as other regions from Jerusalem and our holy places," it said.
The letter came as Israel's President Shimon Peres was due to arrive in Italy on a three-day visit during which he would meet Pope Francis.
"We respectfully ask you to make use of this meeting to pass a strong message regarding the people of Palestine, and particularly the case of Beit Jala's Cremisan land," it said.
The letter added: "We need concrete actions in order to end Israel's impunity so we can live with dignity in our free state... Your holiness, your election brought us hope that things would change. We are still hopeful."
An Israeli court ruled last week in favour of constructing the so-called separation barrier through the 170-hectare Cremisan Valley, where many of Beit Jala's Christians work on the land and its vineyards.
The barrier's planned route would cut them off from the valley, and would effectively separate it from Jerusalem, which is five kilometers away, locals say.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 2004 that parts of the barrier were illegal and should be torn down.
In the Cremisan area, the route of the barrier deviates sharply from the Green Line, the internationally-accepted line marking the divide between Israel and the territories
it captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.
"Building the Wall in the Bethlehem area it's not only a violation of international law... it is also an attack against Palestinian social fabric and Palestinian Christian presence," said Nabil Shaath, a member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party.
"Separating Bethlehem from Jerusalem for the first time in history, stripping Palestinians, mainly Christians, from their land in order to build and expand Israeli colonial settlements, walls and checkpoints is a cruel crime that further closes the chances for peace," he said.
![]()
Palestinian Christians urge pope to oppose wall
Palestinian Christians urge pope to oppose wall
Much of Iran’s near-bomb-grade uranium likely to be in Isfahan, IAEA’s Grossi says
- Isfahan tunnels appear to have survived military strikes
- Some highly enriched uranium was known to be stored there
PARIS: Almost half of Iran’s uranium enriched to up to 60 percent purity, a short step from weapons-grade, was stored in a tunnel complex at Isfahan and is probably still there, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday.
The tunnel complex is the only target that appears not to have been badly damaged in attacks last June by Israel and the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Diplomats have long said Isfahan has been used to store 60 percent uranium, which the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in a report to member states last month, without saying how much was there.
Iran still has highly enriched uranium stocks
The IAEA estimates that when Israel launched its first attacks in June, Iran had 440.9 kg of 60 percent uranium. If enriched further, that would provide the explosive needed for 10 nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.
“What we believe is that Isfahan had until our last inspection a bit more than 200 kg, maybe a little bit more than that, of 60 percent uranium,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Paris.
He said the stock was “mainly” at Isfahan, and some held elsewhere may have been destroyed.
“The widespread assumption is that the material is still there. So we haven’t seen — and not only us, I think in general all those observing the facility through satellite imagery and other means to see what’s going on there — movement indicating that the material could have been transferred,” Grossi said.
Iran has not informed the IAEA of the status or whereabouts of its highly enriched uranium since the June attacks, nor has it let IAEA inspectors return to its bombed facilities.
Iran’s nuclear program is one reason Israel and the US have given for their current attacks on Iran, arguing that it was getting too close to being able to produce a bomb, despite Trump saying in June that US strikes had obliterated the program. The IAEA has said it has no credible indication of a coordinated nuclear weapons program.
All three Iranian uranium-enrichment plants known to have been operating — two at Natanz and one at Fordow — were destroyed or badly damaged in June.
“There is an amount (of 60 percent uranium) in Natanz also, which we believe is still there,” Grossi said.
The tunnel complex is the only target that appears not to have been badly damaged in attacks last June by Israel and the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Diplomats have long said Isfahan has been used to store 60 percent uranium, which the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in a report to member states last month, without saying how much was there.
Iran still has highly enriched uranium stocks
The IAEA estimates that when Israel launched its first attacks in June, Iran had 440.9 kg of 60 percent uranium. If enriched further, that would provide the explosive needed for 10 nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.
“What we believe is that Isfahan had until our last inspection a bit more than 200 kg, maybe a little bit more than that, of 60 percent uranium,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Paris.
He said the stock was “mainly” at Isfahan, and some held elsewhere may have been destroyed.
“The widespread assumption is that the material is still there. So we haven’t seen — and not only us, I think in general all those observing the facility through satellite imagery and other means to see what’s going on there — movement indicating that the material could have been transferred,” Grossi said.
Iran has not informed the IAEA of the status or whereabouts of its highly enriched uranium since the June attacks, nor has it let IAEA inspectors return to its bombed facilities.
Iran’s nuclear program is one reason Israel and the US have given for their current attacks on Iran, arguing that it was getting too close to being able to produce a bomb, despite Trump saying in June that US strikes had obliterated the program. The IAEA has said it has no credible indication of a coordinated nuclear weapons program.
All three Iranian uranium-enrichment plants known to have been operating — two at Natanz and one at Fordow — were destroyed or badly damaged in June.
“There is an amount (of 60 percent uranium) in Natanz also, which we believe is still there,” Grossi said.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.