Sweeping Demolitions of Palestinian Communities
Where Is the Anger?
Photo: Al-Dahiya - October 12, 2026. (AFP)
ICAHD’s monthly Demolition and Displacement Reports seem to be going nowhere because nothing of significance is done about the demolitions. Surely is also the case for other organisations that also do such reports like the Regional Council for the Unrecognized Villages in the Negev, Al-Haq, OCHA and more. Despite the thousands of violations that have happened this year in the West Bank and the Negev/Naqab, no government has called Israel to account for the demolitions.
On 12th October, Israeli authorities demolished 80 structures in Al-Dahiya, a village near Rahat in Israel's Negev Desert, claiming they were built without permits. With the entire community demolished, its 400 residents have been left homeless. However, they are determined not to leave their land and declare that they will live under the stars rather than experience forced displacement.
Knowing the number of demolitions in the Negev/Naqab since 2023, and the fact that Israeli authorities have said that the number of demolitions this year will be similar to last year’s total of 5,700, it is estimated that by the end of this year the figure will reach 19,300 demolitions which includes 2,900 residential homes and the rest are structures vital for living such as livestock enclosures, sheds, latrines, water cisterns, and solar panels.
For many years, ICAHD has highlighted Israel’s discriminatory policies concerning the unrecognized villages in the Negev. In addition to Israel not providing infrastructure and medical and educational services as expected for any normal community, it denies awarding building permits to these Bedouins who are Israeli citizens, so this makes legal construction impossible. Israel’s plan is to force these communities from their ancestral lands and to move them into crowded ‘reservations’ where there is little employment. The high poverty and social and economic hardship lead to crime. Then on the land it has cleared, Israel builds new towns exclusively Jewish Israelis. It has also designated some of the land cleared of the Bedouins as military firing zones.
The list of communities demolished by Israeli authorities are:
Wadi al-Khalil - May 2024
Umm Matnan - June 2024
Al-Ghoul - July 2024
Umm al-Hiran - November 2024
As-Sir - May 2025
As-Sir, additional compound - September 2025
Tel Arad - June 2026, home of a single family only
Abu Wadi - October 2026
Communities in the 918 Military Firing Zone within Massafer Yatta remain targeted with demolitions
Firing Zone 918 is a restricted military area in the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank that overlaps with 13 Palestinian herding and cave communities identified as Masafer Yatta.
Around 1150 Palestinians reside in herding and cave communities. In May 2022, they lost their 30-year legal battle to remain in their homes because Israeli authorities claimed that the Palestinians could not prove permanent residency and that it needed the land for military training. According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the occupying power (Israel) has no legal right to forcibly displace the indigenous population and to use the land for non-imperative military reasons.
The international community has done nothing to stop Israel from committing these crimes. Therefore, demolitions continue to happen on a regular basis but news of them does not make the headlines. The reason given for the demolitions is always the same: they lacked an Israeli-issued building permit. However Israeli authorities do not issue permits for structures in Masafer Yatta.
Here follows is an example of what happened in four of the villages during September. Note that in some incidents almost all the community was demolished, others partly.
1. Khirbet at Tabban. On 2nd September 2026, the Israeli civil administration along with Israeli forces demolished five inhabited residential structures, six uninhabited residential structures, six latrines, five animal related structures, three storage structures, two water cisterns and two taboon oven structures in Khirbet at Tabban, located in the Masafer Yatta area south of Yatta. The demolition took place because it lacked an Israeli issued building permit. Eighteen out of the 27 demolished structures were donor funded. The demolished structures were subject to pending demolition cases related to a master plan submitted by the community, which was recently rejected due to the lack of approval by the Israeli army command. As a result of the demolitions, four families comprising 23 people including 13 children, were displaced. An additional six families comprising 30 people including 19 children who reside seasonally in the community, were also affected. The communal solar system was left intact, but the internal electrical connections were destroyed. Six water tanks were destroyed along with a donor funded residential structure. An animal shelter sustained damages. Since the beginning of 2026, settlers have cut the pipes for the water network multiple times so that the residents have had to rely on bringing in water trunks for their supply.
Photo: Khirbet at Tabban
2. Khirbet al Fakhiet. On 8th September 2026, the Israeli civil administration along with Israeli forces demolished four inhabited residential structures, eight animal shelters and four latrines in Khirbet al Fakhiet in Massafer Yatta. The incident took place allegedly for lacking an Israeli issued building permit. As a result, three families comprising 23 people including 11 children were displaced. All the structures in the northern part of Khirbet al Fakhiet were demolished except for one storage structure that was left standing. During the demolition, the Israeli forces demolished the communal solar panel system that provides the residents with electricity, and they also destroyed ten water tanks. The owners received prior written orders issued by the Israeli civil administration and the case was followed up by St Yves, a Catholic human rights organization however, the demolitions could not be stopped.
Photo: Khirbet al Fakhiet
3. Khallet Athaba. On 8th September 2026, the Israeli civil administration along with Israeli forces demolished an inhabited residential shelter, a donor funded water cistern, and a donor funded latrine in Khallet Athaba community in Massafer Yatta. The incident took place in area C (Firing zone 918) allegedly for lacking a building permit. As a result, a family of 11 people including three children were displaced. During the demolition, a water tank was destroyed. The residents of the Khallet Athaba are struggling to stay on their lands after multiple demolition waves carried out by the Israeli civil administration that have now destroyed almost everything in the community.
Photo: Khallet Athaba
4. Jinba. On 23rd September 2026, the Israeli civil administration along with Israeli forces demolished nine inhabited residential shelters, six uninhabited residential shelters, five latrines, eleven animal shelters, three storage structures, two solar systems and one taboon oven in Jinba located in the Masafer Yatta area south of Yatta. The demolition took place in area C allegedly for lacking a building permit. Jinba is one of 13 Palestinian communities located within the area designated by the Israeli military as firing zone 918. As a result of the demolitions, eight families comprising 51 people including 28 children, were displaced. An additional 15 families comprising 90 people including 38 children were also affected. During the demolition, clashes erupted between some residents and Israeli forces which resulted in the arresting of a Palestinian after he was beaten by Israeli soldiers.
Photo: Jinba
Demolitions cause impoverishment and psychological harm that affects them for years, even for a lifetime. That is another story.