Six Palestinian families in the northern West Bank city of Nablus were forced on Saturday to evacuate their homes after Israeli authorities issued final demolition orders, citing construction in Area C.
The families insist their properties are located in Area B, underscoring the contested and punitive use of zoning classifications under the Oslo framework.
Residents of Upper Ta’awon Street, including the families of Laith Abed and Ashraf Hattab, vacated three residential buildings comprising six apartments after receiving the orders.
The Israeli High Court set December 31, 2025, as the deadline for demolition. According to Abed, the homes have been under threat since 2021, alongside ten other houses sheltering multiple families.
Despite presenting maps showing the homes fall within Area B, Israeli authorities maintain they are located in Area C, where Palestinians face severe restrictions on building and expansion.
Over the past two years, six inhabited homes in the same neighborhood were demolished, despite being built more than 15 years ago.
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We have lived here for decades, yet the occupation insists our homes are illegal,” Abed said, noting the psychological toll of repeated displacement orders.
The Oslo Accords divided the West Bank into three administrative zones:
Area A, comprising about 18 percent of the territory, is under full civil and internal security control by the Palestinian Authority and includes major Palestinian cities such as Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Hebron, though the Israeli army repeatedly invades and operates in these areas.
Area B, covering roughly 21 to 22 percent, grants Palestinians civil control over education, health, and economy, while security is shared with Israel. It encompasses hundreds of Palestinian villages.
Area C, which makes up about 60 percent of the West Bank, is under full Israeli control over security, planning, and construction. It is home to approximately 150,000 Palestinians and more than 400,000 illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizers, and is the site of most demolitions, land confiscations, and settlement expansion.
While Areas A and B were intended to provide Palestinians with autonomy, Israel retains overriding military authority.
Area C has become the focal point of settlement expansion and annexation, effectively blocking Palestinian development.
Various human rights and legal groups have repeatedly documented how Israel reclassifies land from Area B to Area C to justify demolitions, erasing Palestinian claims.
The Nablus case reflects a broader pattern of forced displacement in Area C. According to humanitarian monitoring agencies, more than 1,000 Palestinians were displaced in 2025 alone, the second-highest annual figure since 2009.
فلسطينيون يخلون منازلهم قسرا في منطقة التعاون بمدينة نابلس، تخوفا من هدم الاحتلال لها بعد تسليمهم إخطارات بوقف البناء. pic.twitter.com/EBnT5U9DNl
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) December 13, 2025
Families are often forced to demolish their own homes to avoid heavy fines, while illegal colonizer outposts continue to expand with state support.
Legal experts argue that the manipulation of zoning classifications amounts to de facto annexation, undermining the Oslo framework and international law.
The evacuation of six families in Nablus is not an isolated incident but part of a wider policy of dispossession.
By reclassifying land and enforcing demolitions, Israel consolidates control over Area C while eroding Palestinian presence in Areas A and B.
For the families forced to leave their homes, the Oslo map has become not a framework for peace but a weapon of displacement.
