Israeli forces evict over 40 Palestinians after demolition of their homes in occupied West Bank

Israeli occupation forces have removed a Palestinian family after tearing down its apartment complex in the city of al-Khalil in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.

Tel Aviv is intensifying its efforts to legitimize illegal settlement outposts in clear defiance of international law and UN resolutions.

According to Palestinian media reports, Israeli troops invaded the Harayek neighborhood, next to the Haggai settlement, on Wednesday morning and used bulldozers to demolish an apartment block owned by the Salhab family.

Israeli forces forced the family to leave their residences in a housing complex made up of two connected buildings. The first building was three stories tall and housed six apartments, whereas the second one had two levels with four apartments. Collectively, the building accommodated over 40 individuals.

The demolition continued even though the family possessed all the documents and legal papers, including a land deed that confirmed their ownership of the property. They had previously submitted a formal objection to the demolition orders to an Israeli court.

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In southern al-Quds, the Israeli municipality forced Ahmed Khader's family to tear down their own home in Sur Baher town on February 16, citing unlicensed construction as the reason.

The al-Quds Governorate stated that the family proceeded with the demolition before the municipality's deadline to evade a fine of approximately 80,000 shekels (over $ 25,800) that would have been imposed for not adhering to the recent demolition notice.

Three people resided in the home, which was constructed roughly a decade ago.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military demolished a Palestinian home in al-Khader, located southwest of Bethlehem, alleging it was constructed without a permit.

For its part, the Hamas resistance movement has denounced the Israeli regime’s increase in home demolitions in the West Bank, stating this policy is “part of its systematic assault on the Palestinian people’s existence on their land.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Hamas said the most recent demolition occurred today in al-Khalil, aimed at an apartment structure.

The group said such an aggressive Israeli approach would merely deepen the Palestinian people's connection to their homeland and would fail to displace them.

More than 700,000 Israeli settlers currently live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

The international community regards these settlements as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on occupied Palestinian territories.

Both the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council have repeatedly condemned Israel’s settlement activities in numerous resolutions.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s decades-long occupation of historical Palestine is illegal and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds.

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