Israel has turbocharged West Bank housing demolitions under the cover of war
On 25 June, at 8.30 in the morning, around 20 masked settlers appeared at Tamir Abu Eisheh’s door, informing him that his home in the hills north of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron was about to be demolished.
The Israelis stripped the family of their phones and threw their furniture into the street. They did not even have the time to gather their belongings before bulldozers set to work, razing their home to the ground.
“His daughters came to me crying in the morning, barefoot in their pyjamas, and asked me to come because they are destroying their home,” Tamir’s brother, Nadir Abu Eisheh, told Middle East Eye. Nadir arrived to find his baby nephew’s mattress cast into the street.
“Usually they give families at least 20 days to evacuate,” Nadir told MEE. This time, Tamir Abu Eisheh’s family had no warning.
Israel has long wielded housing demolitions as a means to displace the occupied West Bank's Palestinian population. Since the 7 October Hamas-led attack and Israel's war on Gaza, however, the practice has been turbocharged, with Israeli bulldozers tearing down people's homes on a near-daily basis.
According to UN figures, Israeli forces have destroyed over 1,000 structures across the West Bank, displacing around 2,250 people.
Overseeing the drive is Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's far-right finance minister, who also wields power over authorities in the West Bank - and is a settler himself.
Read more: Israel has turbocharged West Bank housing demolitions under the cover of war
