The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) criticized the state authorities’ handling of the violent sectarian incident that took place on July 8, 2026, in the El-Tal El-Qibliya village of the Minya Governorate. Violence erupted over Coptic residents of the village practicing their religious rites in a church building that has long been used for Christian worship–a well-known fact to both official authorities and the village's Muslim residents. The violence occurred despite prior warnings from the church's priest, Father Pavlos Kamal, who had informed security authorities of earlier incidents of incitement and harassment during religious services. Despite these warnings, authorities failed to take preventive action to deter the assaults.

El-Tal El-Qibliya village witnessed sectarian tensions on 8 July, as dozens of individuals surrounded the church building and threw stones at the doors and windows of several homes owned by Copts while chanting inflammatory slogans. They also smashed the windows of Father Kamal’s car parked outside a Coptic resident’ home. According to testimonies obtained by EIPR, the attacks resulted in several minor injuries.

Immediately following the incident, Bishop Makarios of Minya, posted on X (formerly Twitter), calling on security authorities to intervene swiftly to halt the escalating attacks. In a phone interview with EIPR researchers, the Bishop confirmed the existence of prior tensions leading up to the attacks. Security forces eventually arrived at the village and arrested an undisclosed number of Muslim residents as well as four Christians: Issa Zakaria, Maged Zakaria, Bibawi Saad, and Amir Makram, according to sources. The four Coptic detainees were released the following day. 

EIPR emphasises that the demands of the village’s residents are constitutionally guaranteed. It notes that despite certain positive steps taken under Church Construction Law No. 80 of 2016, the legislation has failed to achieve its stated goal of ensuring the construction and renovation of churches without burdensome administrative hurdles. Such reforms are essential for preventing the recurrence of sectarian violence, which has often been linked to systematic and institutional restrictions on church construction. 

For more than two decades, EIPR has documented violations of Christians' right to practice their religious rites. EIPR has repeatedly warned that the current legal framework continues to create obstacles, particularly in governorates and villages where Christians lack places of worship. EIPR reiterates that state institutions bear the responsibility to apply the law impartially and to safeguard religious freedoms for all citizens.

EIPR calls on the authorities to facilitate the legalization of the church's status, ensuring that religious rites can be practiced freely and safely. It also demands the effective prosecution of those responsible for the violence. EIPR additionally reiterates its demand for amending the Church Construction Law, which has proven insufficient in  resolving all legal and procedural obstacles, and urges the Prime Minister to issue a decree legalizing all churches where religious services are actively held and which regularization applications remain pending before the Church Legalization Committee.

Account of the Attacks

For years, El-Tal El-Qibliya village had no church where its Christian residents could pray, practice their religious rituals, or conduct community activities such as Sunday school classes. A Christian resident informed EIPR researchers that the absence of a local church forced residents to travel long distances to attend important religious services, such as holiday prayers, in neighbouring villages. This created overcrowding at those churches and imposed on the local Coptic community both logistical and financial burdens.

To cope with this situation, Christian residents began holding regular prayers and masses in their homes on a rotating basis. However, the rotating locations made consistent attendance difficult for some residents due to varying travel distances. As a result, the community eventually designated a building situated among their homes as a church, with the knowledge of both security authorities and the village's Muslim residents.

The latest tensions began after a truck transporting supplies from the church stopped in front of the home of a local non-commissioned police officer residing in the village. The officer engaged in a verbal dispute with a Christian resident who was accompanying the driver, objecting to the parking of the truck  in front of his house. The altercation escalated when  a relative of the Christian resident joined the confrontation. At that point, what had begun as a verbal altercation escalated into a physical assault by several Muslims present at the scene against the two Christian residents. When other Christian relatives attempted to intervene to break up the fight, they were also subjected to attacks and sustained injuries.

Simultaneously, Muslim women from the village gathered at the site of the confrontation and began throwing stones at Christian-owned houses, including the church building, while electricity in the area was cut off. The attacks resulted in several minor injuries, as well as damage to the windows of Father Kamal's vehicle and a number of houses.

The village's Coptic residents contacted emergency police services, but the responding officers were unable to control the situation upon arrival. Following Bishop Makarios' public appeal on X, the Minya Security Chief, along with rapid-response units and Central Security Forces, arrived in the village. While a group of the alleged attackers was arrested, security forces also detained four Christian residents. Among those detained were two individuals who had reportedly been verbally and physically assaulted, a third whose wife had also been beaten, and a fourth who was detained while filming the events on his mobile phone. The four Copts were released the following day. 

According to testimony received by EIPR from a village resident, the events were not an isolated incident. Since religious services began in the church building, Christian residents have repeatedly faced harassment from Muslim neighbours during worship. Although residents have reported these incidents to the authorities, no proper action was taken –which was also highlighted by Bishop Makarios in his initial social media statement.

The Christians of El-Tal El-Qibliya have sought nothing more than their legitimate right to practice their faith in a church within their own village, EIPR said. As one resident stated: "Our children have the right to learn the word of God at this age. We want to take them to a Sunday school. We want them to find a place to make friends, play, and feel embraced." Today, however, the Christian residents say they feel afraid both in their homes and in the streets of their village, despite the heavy security presence throughout the area.