Occupied West Bank – Israel has demolished more Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025 than in any year since the occupation began in 1967, displacing over 1,100 people and intensifying fears of a deliberate strategy to drive Palestinians from their land, according to human rights groups and analysts.
The United Nations reports that Israeli authorities have destroyed 783 structures this year, excluding large-scale destruction in refugee camps. In Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams refugee camps, approximately 900 structures have been razed during military raids launched in early 2025, per data from the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq. These demolitions, often justified by Israel as targeting “military zones” or lacking building permits, are seen by experts as a tactic to make life unlivable for Palestinians, pushing them to leave.
Mutawakil al-Mohamad, a resident of occupied East Jerusalem, recounted the destruction of his family home on June 25, 2025. Israeli soldiers arrived at 7 a.m. with bulldozers, ordering his family to evacuate immediately. “My young children were scared,” al-Mohamad told Al Jazeera from Ramallah, where he now resides. “We had 10 minutes to leave.” Similarly, Ahmed Gaeem, 60, and his extended family were evicted from their home in Tulkarem refugee camp in March, left with only the clothes on their backs. Their home was later found destroyed, with shattered windows and collapsed walls. The family now rents three homes in Iktaba village for $1,300 a month, a crippling cost amid the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) ongoing economic crisis, which has left Gaeem, a PA civil servant, unpaid for months.
Human rights researcher Murad Jadallah of Al-Haq argued that Israel’s demolitions mirror its actions in Gaza, where many experts have labeled the ongoing war a genocide. “Israel’s goal in the West Bank is the same as in Gaza. … It wants to target all Palestinians,” Jadallah told Al Jazeera, noting that global focus on Gaza has allowed Israel to escalate destruction in the West Bank. Tahani Mustafa, a West Bank expert with the International Crisis Group, described Israel’s tactics as unprecedented, particularly after new military orders in July granted Israel control over building and agricultural laws in Area B, previously under PA jurisdiction per the Oslo Accords. These orders provide a legal pretext for further demolitions, despite international law prohibiting the destruction of private property in occupied territories.
Israel’s systematic denial of building permits to Palestinians, coupled with the expansion of illegal settlements in Area C, which comprises 60% of the West Bank, has confined Palestinians to shrinking urban pockets in Area A. The UN documented 49 demolitions in Areas A and B this year, often tied to military operations or reprisals against resistance. Mustafa warned that Israel’s strategy appears to involve increasing checkpoints, barriers, and raids to make urban centers increasingly unlivable.
Displaced families face severe challenges, with many unable to afford alternative housing and resorting to overcrowded relatives’ homes or makeshift shelters in public buildings. Al-Mohamad, now fearing further evictions, expressed a resolute connection to the land: “This is our land. It’s where we want to live and where we want to die.”
The surge in demolitions has heightened concerns that Israel is intensifying efforts to displace Palestinians across the West Bank, with urban centers potentially next after the destruction of nearby refugee camps.
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