Israeli occupation forces demolished two Palestinian homes on Thursday in the Upper Ta’awun area of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank’s northern part. The demolition was carried out after military units, accompanied by three armored bulldozers, invaded the neighborhood and began tearing down the structures.
Media sources reported that the two homes belong to Ashraf Khattab and Laith Nael al-Abed. The families had received evacuation orders on December 12, after years of legal challenges and repeated attempts to halt the demolition.
Last month, Israeli forces forced six Palestinian families to evacuate their homes on Upper Ta’awun Street in preparation for demolition, part of a broader campaign targeting residential areas in and around Nablus.
The homes have been under threat of demolition since 2021, along with ten additional houses in the same area. Each of the threatened homes shelters between two and four families.
According to maps obtained by the families, all the homes are located in Area B, where civil affairs fall under Palestinian administration. Israeli authorities, however, claim the structures lie within Area C, a designation used repeatedly to justify demolition orders.
Residents noted that several other homes in the same neighborhood have also received demolition notices under the pretext of “building in Area C,” despite longstanding disputes over the accuracy and legality of these classifications.
During the invasion and the demolitions, Israeli soldiers fired gas bombs at media crews to force them out of the area, wounding several journalists.
The demolitions add to a growing pattern of forced displacement in the Nablus area, where Palestinian families face escalating pressure, contested zoning claims, and the systematic use of demolition orders to reshape the area’s demographic and territorial landscape.
