Israeli occupation forces expanded their home‑demolition campaign on Thursday across multiple areas of the occupied West Bank, issuing demolition notices for inhabited homes in the Khirbet ad‑Deir area of Tuquʿ southeast of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, and posting additional demolition orders inside homes in the town of Silwan in occupied Jerusalem.
The measures reflect a broader escalation targeting Palestinian residential areas, where families face repeated invasions, threats, and the systematic use of demolition orders to force displacement.
Israeli forces invaded Khirbet ad‑Deir and positioned themselves between residential homes before delivering demolition notices for six houses, most of them inhabited.
The targeted homes belong to Omran Suleiman Ali Mousa, Firas Othman Khalil Suleiman, Ziad Mohammad Mousa, Nabil Sbeih Suleiman, Mohammad Salim Suleiman Sbeih, and Diya’ Mohammad Hmeidan Sbeih.
Residents said soldiers photographed the structures and surrounding property, a step that often precedes the arrival of bulldozers or the issuance of final demolition deadlines.
Families expressed concern that the orders are part of a wider effort to clear the area for colonial expansion, a trend repeatedly documented in field reports from Bethlehem, the South Hebron Hills, and other parts of the occupied West Bank.
In occupied Jerusalem, Israeli municipal crews accompanied by soldiers invaded the Ras al‑Amoud neighborhood of Silwan and posted demolition orders inside several homes.
Residents described the operation as part of a long‑running campaign targeting Palestinian housing in Silwan, where families face a combination of home demolitions, forced self‑demolition orders, heavy fines, and repeated invasions.
Human‑rights organizations have long noted that Israeli authorities use demolition orders in occupied Jerusalem as a tool to pressure Palestinian families to leave the area, clearing space for colonial projects.
The expansion of demolition orders in both Bethlehem and occupied Jerusalem comes amid a broader escalation across the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have intensified invasions, home break‑ins, and military roadblocks, often in parallel with illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizer activity.
Residents in multiple districts report that demolition orders are increasingly being issued in clusters, targeting entire neighborhoods or extended families and creating a climate of uncertainty and fear.
