Israeli occupation forces invaded, on Wednesday, the towns of Shuqba west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank’s central part, and As‑Sawahra southeast of occupied Jerusalem, and demolished two Palestinian homes as part of the ongoing campaign of destruction and forced displacement across the occupied West Bank.
In the town of Shuqba, occupation soldiers accompanied by military bulldozers invaded the area and demolished a two‑story home belonging to Palestinian citizen Abdul‑Halim Thabet.
The property included a swimming pool and a small playground and housed seven family members. The structure had been threatened with demolition only three days earlier, in another example of the accelerated pace of punitive and administrative demolitions carried out by the occupation authorities.
In As‑Sawahra, southeast of Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolished a two‑story home belonging to Palestinian citizen Mustafa Abdul‑Ghani Za’atra, under the pretext of building without a permit, a justification systematically used by the occupation to restrict Palestinian presence and expand Israeli colonial control in and around Jerusalem.
The Wall & Colonization Resistance Commission documented 37 demolition operations carried out by the occupation authorities during the month of April, targeting 78 Palestinian structures, including 37 inhabited homes, 34 agricultural structures, and five sources of livelihood.
The highest concentration of demolitions occurred in the Jerusalem governorate with 29 structures, followed by Ramallah and Al‑Bireh with 22, and Bethlehem with 10, in addition to other areas across the West Bank.
The Commission also recorded 21 demolition notices issued by the occupation during the same month, including 15 in the Hebron governorate, three in Jerusalem, two in Jenin, and one in Qalqilia, reflecting a continued escalation in Israeli policies aimed at displacing Palestinian communities and expanding illegal colonial enterprises.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian home in the Arab al‑‘Arara area near the Jaba’ Junction north of Jerusalem, displacing a family and continuing the ongoing policy of home demolitions across the Jerusalem district.
On Monday, Israeli occupation forces demolished a 2-storey Palestinian home in the village of ad‑Deerat, east of Yatta in the southern West Bank district of Hebron.
While Israel continues to build and expand its illegal colonies, Palestinian communities and towns in occupied Jerusalem and various areas in the occupied West Bank continue to be denied the right to build homes and property under various allegations meant to prevent the expansion of Palestinian towns and neighborhoods.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment and acts of terror against civilian populations.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory”.
Articles 53 and 147, prohibit the destruction of civilian property and classify pillage as a war crime.
