The rule of law is deteriorating in the West Bank as tension continues to grow between settlers and the Palestinian population, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, said this week.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Rimini Meeting in northern Italy on Aug. 26, the cardinal said the West Bank “has become a no-man’s land — or rather, a lawless land — where everything that happens goes unchecked, with no safeguards in terms of security or the rule of law.”
Asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that he would continue to open settlements in the occupied land, Pizzaballa said: “This isn’t the first time he’s said that.”
“The government has stated very clearly that this is their intention, even though it makes a political solution in the near future increasingly difficult,” the cardinal continued. “I hope that all this drift — this political confrontation, including in language and positions — will moderate over time, because the Palestinian population is truly very tired and can no longer bear all of this.”
Pizzaballa explained that the situation in Gaza, from this point of view, is more stable than the West Bank, even while it continues to deteriorate.
“While there is a great deal of political debate, on the ground the human toll remains devastating,” he added.
The Rimini Meeting, officially named the Meeting for Friendship Among the Peoples, is an annual cultural festival organized by the Catholic lay movement Communion and Liberation. The 47th edition took place near the city of Rimini, Italy, from Aug. 21–26, and included a visit from Pope Leo XIV on Aug. 22.
Pizzaballa, a frequent speaker at recent editions of the gathering, participated in a dialogue with three young people on the final day of the 2026 meeting, touching on the topics of hope, suffering, and interreligious dialogue.
He also urged people to “listen to multiple voices,” including those with whom they do not agree, to understand and assess the events taking place in the Middle East.
“This is a task that must be undertaken continually in the Middle East,” he said, where “nothing is as it appears and everything is very complicated.”
In a conversation with the journalist Alessandro Banfi during the meeting, Pizzaballa underlined that “to assume that an agreement alone is enough to put an end” to what is happening in the Middle East “is presumptuous; it is an illusion.”
“Now, of course, we need agreements; we need to pursue political paths — but these must also be accompanied by educational, formative, human, and religious initiatives, which play a very important role in the Middle East in healing, in processing grief, and in addressing everything that has affected both the Israeli and Palestinian populations. And this doesn’t happen in the blink of an eye,” he said.