‘Unprecedented’ pace in Israeli demolishing WB Palestinian homes

Ihab Shaabin cannot believe that he lost his home without any prior notice of demolition, simply because Israeli settlers filed a complaint that it is located on top of a mountain overlooking an illegal Israeli settlement built on Palestinian land, west of Ramallah.

The pace of Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes is accelerating in the occupied West Bank at an unprecedented rate. During February alone, the Israeli army demolished 156 Palestinian facilities and homes, and distributed demolition notices to 93 other facilities across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to a report by the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.

This figure doesn’t include the ongoing demolition and bombing of Palestinian homes in the Jenin and Tulkarm camps, which are difficult to document due to the ongoing Israeli military assault that is surpassing 50 days.

Unpleasant surprise

On 11 February, Ihab was heading to work in the morning while his three children were getting ready to go to school. Suddenly, Israeli bulldozers surrounded their home in the village of Deir Ibzi’, west of Ramallah, and soldiers began shouting at them to immediately evacuate in preparation for its demolition. 

Ihab’s wife called him, and he quickly returned, but he found that the bulldozers had begun to demolish parts of the house without allowing the family to remove any of their belongings.

“I was very surprised because there was no notice issued to demolish the house. In December 2023, a decision was issued to stop construction, but we have been living there since 2019. Even our lawyer wasn’t informed of any demolition decision,” he told The New Arab.

A few weeks before the demolition of Ihab’s 200-square-meter house, Israeli settlers filmed a video of a number of houses located on top of a mountain overlooking the illegal Israeli settlement of Dolev, built on Palestinian land.

Ihab’s house was relatively far away and there are a number of houses closer to the illegal settlement, even part of it is located in “Area B”—according to the Oslo accords, the Palestinian Authority exercises administrative control over Area B but shares security control with Israeli authorities. This area makes up about 22% of the occupied West Bank. 

“We are now living in a small apartment that one of the residents donated to us for four months, and we don’t know what will happen to us after that, a dream of years was lost for no reason,” he noted to TNA.

Until now, Ihab’s sons are being referred to psychiatrists to treat the shock they suffered when they saw their home demolished along with all its contents.

Demolition and confiscation

Israel gives numerous excuses to justify its demolition of Palestinian homes, such as the lack of permits that it doesn’t allow them to obtain, the proximity to Israeli settlements or the ‘apartheid wall’, and the location of a Palestinian home close to an Israeli military or security zone, a nature reserve, or an archaeological site.

Ayed Morrar, the legal advisor to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, told TNA that building permit procedures are the responsibility of Israel, which doesn’t organise Palestinian villages or grant new master plans or expand older ones. Because building permits cannot be issued without master plans, no permits are given for Palestinian facilities located in “Area C”, which Israel administers and covers over 60 percent of the occupied West Bank, and is a space in which Palestinians need to build due to the increase in population.

“There are other justifications for demolition, including removal notices for buildings in areas that are difficult to license or close to settlements and army camps, where they are given a 96-hour chance before they are demolished, as well as demolition orders if there is any doubt that the building affects the security feasibility, so it is demolished even if it is in areas A or B,”  Morrar stressed.

“All the justifications are illegal and Israel uses them to displace Palestinians, and in return, it speeds up the procedures for granting building permits to settlers in a clear and complete racism,” he added.

Regardless of the justifications, the Palestinians believe that the goal is to remove their presence from their land, which the Israeli settlers aspire to annex. Among these arguments is also the demolition of the homes of Palestinians who carry out armed resistance operations under the aim of achieving deterrence.

The home of Abdul Fattah Al-Haimouni from Hebron was bombed a few days ago because his son Ahmed carried out an attack in Tel Aviv last October.

Ahmed was shot seven times, his intestines were removed and replaced with plastic ones, and he is still a prisoner awaiting trial, while his partner in carrying out the operation, Mohammed Misk, was killed immediately on the spot, and his family’s house was also blown up.

Al-Haimouni told TNA that after he learned that his son had carried out a shooting attack, he emptied his house of furniture and evacuated because it was expected to be demolished at any moment according to Israeli policy. 

“They demolish it to deter and terrorise people, and this is a form of collective punishment for the families. We have nothing to do with it, and we didn’t know that Ahmed was going to carry out an attack. The goal is not only deterrence, but also to force us to leave our land,” he added.

The family of six now lives in a relative’s house, and the decision to demolish their house is accompanied by another decision to confiscate the land.

Since 2023, Israel has demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, forcing thousands to be displaced.