Amid an ongoing campaign targeting the Palestinian presence in their land, homes and livelihoods, demolitions, land levelling and forced displacement are intensifying across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
On Wednesday, Israeli occupation forces demolished a number of homes and agricultural structures in the Yatta wilderness, south of Hebron.
According to eyewitnesses, occupation forces stormed the al-Qarashiya area in the Yatta wilderness, where bulldozers began demolishing homes and farming facilities belonging to Palestinian residents. The demolition operations continued for hours, creating a climate of anxiety among local families who fear that the scope of targeting may widen further.
The Yatta wilderness is considered one of the Palestinian areas most exposed to demolition and confiscation policies. Its residents face repeated threats of losing their homes and agricultural land under stringent building restrictions and an almost complete denial of permits. This leaves them confronting two harsh options: building without a permit and facing demolition, or leaving under coercive pressure.
In occupied Jerusalem, occupation machinery continued demolition and land-clearing operations. An agricultural facility and several boundary walls were demolished, and areas of land were levelled in the town of al-Jadeera, northwest of the city. Additionally, a retaining wall was demolished and land cleared near the Saad and Saeed Mosque in the al-Musrara neighbourhood, close to Damascus Gate.
Occupation forces also handed demolition notices to several residents, paving the way for a new wave of attacks on private property.
These violations form part of a sustained policy aimed at constricting the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem by reducing the space available for construction and agriculture, imposing heavy fines and complex bureaucratic procedures that function as tools of pressure to compel residents either to leave their land or refrain from developing it.
Alongside official demolitions, settler violence has escalated with equally grave consequences. Ongoing settler attacks in the village of al-Duyuk al-Tahta, west of Jericho, forced fifteen Palestinian families to leave their homes after ploughing and land-levelling operations targeted the land surrounding their dwellings and prevented them from accessing or using it.
Eyewitnesses reported that the affected families, most of whom lived in tin structures and some in concrete houses, found themselves facing a direct threat to their lives and livelihoods, compelling them to depart under conditions of fear and a lack of protection.
Data indicate that the land-clearing operations caused direct damage to agricultural land, compounding the economic and social losses suffered by residents.
Demolition, land levelling and forced displacement constitute a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits an occupying power from destroying or confiscating private property except in cases of imperative military necessity. Such necessity does not apply to the recurring cases witnessed in the Palestinian territories.
The displacement of residents from their homes, whether through direct demolition or through sustained pressure and settler attacks, falls within the concept of forcible transfer of population, prohibited under the Geneva Conventions and considered a grave breach of international law.
Moreover, the right to adequate housing, the right to private property and the right to earn a livelihood from the land are fundamental rights guaranteed under international human rights instruments and cannot be nullified under administrative or regulatory pretexts.
What is unfolding on the ground points to a deliberate policy aimed at weakening the Palestinian presence by targeting both residential and agricultural infrastructure, turning daily life into an open-ended struggle for survival.
The repetition of these violations across multiple areas and within close timeframes reflects a consistent pattern rather than isolated incidents. It confirms that demolition, land levelling and displacement are not incidental measures but systematic tools of pressure designed to impose new realities by force, at the expense of the historical and legal rights of the Palestinian population.
