Israel demolishes 6 Palestinian homes, displacing dozens in occupied West Bank

The Israeli army demolished six homes and a carpentry workshop owned by Palestinians across the West Bank on Monday, in the latest demolitions in the occupied territory.

Israeli bulldozers razed five Palestinian homes in the town of Barta’a, west of Jenin in the northern West Bank, displacing dozens of residents, Barta’a council chief Ghassan Qabha told Anadolu.

He said the demolished structures were part of demolitions targeting 20 homes in the town on claims of lacking building permits.

“An Israeli court rejected an appeal filed by residents against the demolition order for 20 Palestinian homes in the town on the pretext they were built without permits in areas classified as Area C under the Oslo Accords,” he said.

He pointed out that the demolitions have left dozens of Palestinians homeless, denouncing the demolitions as part of “a policy aimed at expelling and displacing the Palestinian residents from the town.”

Barta’a is located behind the Israeli separation wall and administratively falls under the Jenin Governorate. Its residents hold Palestinian identity cards.

In the southern West Bank, Israeli forces brought down a house and a carpentry workshop in Khirbet Qalqas, south of Hebron.

“Israeli occupation forces stormed Khirbet Qalqas, and demolished our two-story home, which housed five people,” said Abdul Rahman Abu Sneineh, a son of the homeowner.

“Israeli forces also bulldozed the surrounding land and walls, uprooted several fruit trees, and demolished a carpentry workshop in the village,” he added.

Israeli authorities prohibit construction or land reclamation in Area C without permits that are virtually impossible to obtain, according to Palestinians.

Under the 1995 Oslo II Accord, Area C, which comprises about 61% of the occupied West Bank, remains under full Israeli control.

In February, the Israeli government approved a measure allowing authorities to register large areas of West Bank land as state property for the first time since 1967.

Israeli violence has surged across the occupied West Bank since October 2023, with Palestinian officials reporting 1,169 deaths, 12,666 injuries, nearly 23,000 arrests and the displacement of around 33,000 people.