home demolitions

Israeli forces demolish buildings in Khirbet Khilet al-Dabe, in Masafer Yatta, the West Bank, May 5, 2025. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

Palestinians awoke to bulldozers. Their village was destroyed by noon

Within hours, Israeli forces demolished homes, wells, and even caves in the West Bank hamlet of Khilet al-Dabe’, leaving families with nowhere to shelter.

By Basel Adra May 6, 2025

Israeli forces destroy a building in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, Feb. 20, 2024. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem hit new record

In 2024, Israel destroyed 181 homes and approved the fewest Palestinian building plans in a decade, while greenlighting thousands of settlement units.

By Georgia Gee and Dikla Taylor-Sheinman March 6, 2025

Israeli police surround and destroy the mosque in Umm Al-Hiran, Nov. 14, 2024. (Oren Ziv)

The entire history of Zionism’s injustices, in one Bedouin village

The destruction of Umm Al-Hiran exemplifies the Zionist view of Palestinians as impermanent; moveable chess pieces in a game of demographic engineering.

By Orly Noy November 20, 2024

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Israeli security forces destroy a house in Silwan, February 14, 2024. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

Under cover of war, Israel is demolishing home after home in Silwan

The government has accelerated plans to depopulate the East Jerusalem neighborhood, displacing dozens of Palestinian residents this year.

By Jessica Buxbaum September 6, 2024

Eid al-Hathaleen stands atop the rubble of his home after it was demolished by the Israeli Civil Administration, Umm al-Khair, occupied West Bank, July 7, 2024. (Emily Glick)

In Umm al-Khair, the occupation is damning us to multigenerational trauma

I saw the first bulldozers arrive in my village 17 years ago. Now, after the most brutal weeks in our history, my son will carry similarly painful memories.

By Awdah Hathaleen July 22, 2024

Shoug Al Adara in her home in At-Tuwani, December 2023. (Emily Glick)

A settler shot my husband. Then Israel bulldozed my childhood home

Zakariyah has suffered immensely since being wounded by an Israeli settler. Yet his attacker roams free, and demolitions continue to devastate our communities in Masafer Yatta.

By Shoug Al Adara June 20, 2024

Israeli forces raze the entire unrecognized village of Wadi al-Khalil in the Naqab, May 8, 2024. (Oren Ziv)

Israel razes entire Bedouin village to expand a highway

The demolition of Wadi al-Khalil, an unrecognized village in the Naqab, left over 300 citizens homeless despite their attempts to reach a compromise.

By Oren Ziv May 10, 2024

The belongings and remains of homes of Palestinian families in Ein Samia, West Bank. (Oren Ziv)

‘It’s like 1948’: Israel cleanses vast West Bank region of nearly all Palestinians

In mere months, entire Palestinian communities between Ramallah and Jericho have been chased out by settler violence and state policies — paving the way for a total Israeli takeover of thousands of acres of land.

By Oren Ziv August 31, 2023

The belongings and remains of homes of Palestinian families in 'Ein Samia, occupied West Bank, May 25, 2023. (Oren Ziv)

Under settler terror, Palestinians tear down and flee their village

Twenty-seven Palestinian families made the devastating decision to leave their homes in 'Ein Samia, hounded out by Israeli settlers and army pressure.

By Basel Adra May 25, 2023

A Palestinian girl mourns during the funeral of the 10 Palestinians killed by the Israeli army during a raid in the city, January 26, 2023. (Wahaj Banimoufleh/Activestills.org)

The myth of the ‘cycle of violence’

Palestinians spotlight Israeli brutality to demand an end to their oppression; Israelis spotlight Palestinian violence to justify that oppression.

By Amjad Iraqi January 31, 2023

Israeli soldiers accompany Palestinian students heading back home to the village of Tuba, at the end of their school day in the village of A-Tuwani, as they walk on a two-kilometer dirt road by the Israeli settlement of Maon, West Bank, September 28, 2021. (Oren Ziv)

In Masafer Yatta, teachers like me can’t guarantee our students an education

With schools facing demolition orders and soldiers detaining students and teachers for hours, obstacles to education are becoming insurmountable.

By Awdah Hathaleen November 15, 2022

An Israeli soldier points his weapon at a Palestinian man during a protest in Hebron, occupied West Bank, April 22, 2022. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

‘Same agenda, just more subtle’: Bennett-Lapid government’s first year in numbers

New figures show surge in killings of West Bank Palestinians and no drop in demolitions during the first 12 months of the ‘government of change.’

By Oren Ziv June 19, 2022

Israeli police stand in front of a bulldozer demolishing homes in Masafer Yatta in front of the occupied West Bank, June 1, 2022. (B'Tselem)

Palestinians in Masafer Yatta made homeless twice over by Israeli demolitions

The Israeli military bulldozed tents housing 21 Palestinians on Wednesday morning, whose original homes had already been destroyed last month.

By Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham June 1, 2022