On Thursday 25 August, Sabeel met with religious leaders and the community in Nablus. Father Archimandrite Eustinus from the Jacob’s Well Church in Nablus has been attacked multiple times in the past few years by Palestinian outlaws. He has also received many death threats, and the attacks do not seem to be connected. The Palestinian Authority has been incompetent in dealing with these attacks and holding the perpetrators accountable. This has created a sense of outlawness and impunity in Palestine, especially in Nablus.
For many years, Israeli settler groups have been attempting to take over the well, because they claim that it is holy to Jewish people. These attacks are not new. In 1979, Saint Philoumenos was killed at the Church when an Israeli threw a hand grenade inside.
More recently, Dr. Nasser Al-Din Al-Shaer, the former Education Minister of the Palestinian National Authority who was serving as a member of Hamas was attacked by outlaws in Nablus in July 2022, shot 20 times, and seriously injured by the attack. Dr. Al-Shaer also served as Deputy Prime Minister in the previous cabinet.