Demolitions and confiscations in communities facing expulsion

Community

8 September 2022 Kh. Tana

Civil Administration forces family in Nablus area to dismantle seasonal homes and other structures

On Thursday, 8 Sept. 2022, at around 8:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military escort and a settlement security vehicle at the area of a-Sawana which lies east of Khirbet Tana, a community located east of Beit Furik. The forces ordered a family of six, including one minor, to take apart the structures they were setting up in order to live there over the winter. This included two tents for the family to live in, two tents for livestock, an iron port and a barbed wire fence about 70 meters long. The forces then ordered the family to load the dismantled equipment onto a truck they were leasing and drive it to a military camp near Hamra Checkpoint. They did not allow the family to film what was happening.

6 September 2022 Kh. a-Ras al-Ahmar

Soldiers confiscate tractor in Kh. a-Ras al-Ahmar

On Tuesday, 6 September 2022, at around 2:00 P.M., soldiers arrived in jeeps at farmland in the area of Khirbet a-Ras al-Ahmar in the northern Jordan Valley and chased tractors working there. The soldiers detained one of the drivers for about half an hour. They then confiscated his tractor, claiming it was in a “closed military zone”, and ordered him to drive it to the Beka’ot military camp.

24 August 2022 Wadi al-Ahmar, a-Zbeidat

Jordan Valley: Israel demolishes eight seasonal homes, agricultural structure and house under construction

On Wednesday, 24 August 2022, at around 6:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military escort and a bulldozer at the community of Wadi al-Ahmar in the southern Jordan Valley. The forces demolished two inhabited seasonal tents that housed two families numbering 10 people in total, including four minors. In addition, the forces demolished a tent used as a kitchen, a livestock enclosure and a solar panel belonging to one of the families. They also demolished six seasonal residential tents uninhabited this time of the year, a livestock pen, and three tents used as livestock enclosures, which were not currently in use. That day, at around 8:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military escort and a bulldozer at the village of a-Zubeidat in the central Jordan Valley and demolished a home under construction slated to house a family of eight, including six minors.

22 August 2022 'Ein a-Duyuk a-Tahta

Israel demolishes residential and vacation homes in ‘Ein a-Duyuk a-Tahta, Jordan Valley

On Monday, 22 August 2022, at around 6:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military and Border Police escort and two bulldozers at ‘Ein a-Duyuk a-Tahta in the southern Jordan Valley. The forces demolished three homes, leaving three families, numbering a total of 14 people, including eight minors, homeless. In addition, the forces demolished four water tanks belonging to one of the families. The forces also demolished two homes under construction, one of which was slated to house a family of seven, including 2 minors, and the other slated to house one person, as well as seven vacation homes, one of them under construction, a fence, a swimming pool and five water tanks belonging to families from East Jerusalem and another family from the Hebron area.

17 August 2022 al-'Auja

Israel uproots and confiscates dozens of olive and palm seedlings, al-’Auja area, Jericho District

On Wednesday morning, 17 August 2022, Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military escort and a crane truck at the al-’Awasaj farm, south of the town of al-’Auja in Jericho District. The farm was established about a year ago next to the settlement outpost of “Omer’s Farm” to protect land in the area from landgrab by settlers. The forces uprooted and confiscated dozens of olive and palm seedlings. They also dismantled and confiscated posts and a chain-link fence that surrounded an area of over 20 dunams, and a 400-meter-long water pipe. The establishment of the farm, the equipment and the trees were funded by the Jericho Cooperative Association.

16 August 2022 a-Tuwani

Israeli military enters village of a-Tuwani in dead of night and confiscates cars; soldiers threaten residents at gunpoint

On Tuesday, 16 August 2022, a few minutes after midnight, soldiers arrived in four military vehicles at the village of a-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. About 15 minutes later, they were joined by additional soldiers who arrived in five military vehicles along with two crane trucks. The soldiers blocked the entrances to the village and began smashing the windows of unlicensed parked cars, which the residents use to travel on agricultural roads. Soldiers spread out among the village homes, threatened residents who came out of their houses to the sound of breaking glass at gunpoint and ordered them to return to their homes. The soldiers confiscated five cars and left the village at 3:00 A.M.

16 August 2022 Kh. ‘Alan

Israel demolishes three homes and other structures in area of al-Jiftlik, Jordan Valley

On Tuesday, 16 August 2022, at around 7:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military escort, two bulldozers and a truck at Khirbet ‘Allan in the al-Jiftlik area of the Jordan Valley. The forces demolished two prefabs and a stone room that served as two residential units of a family of 11, including a husband, his two wives and their seven minor children, as well as an outdoor kitchen and portable toilets. The forces also destroyed another home that housed an adult son of the same family. In addition, the forces demolished three shacks used as livestock enclosures and two tin rooms used for making cheese, and damaged two water containers and livestock pen fences. Filmed by: ‘Aref Daraghmeh, B’Tselem

15 August 2022 Kh. a-Ras al-Ahmar

Israel confiscates poles intended to support nets in Jordan Valley banana grove

On Monday, 15 August 2022, at around 7:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military escort and three crane trucks at a banana grove spanning about eight dunams southeast of the community of Khirbet Ras al-Ahmar in the Jordan Valley. The forces confiscated about 300 metal poles intended to support a net that would protect the grove and cut an irrigation pipe. At the beginning of the month, Jordan Valley Settlement council personnel and the military confiscated a tractor and a forklift used to erect the poles.

14 August 2022 Qawawis

Israel confiscates solar panels in Qawawis community, Masafer Yatta

On Sunday, 14 August 2022, at around midday, Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military escort at the community of Qawawis in Masafer Yatta and confiscated 13 solar panels that provided electricity to six families numbering 40 people. In addition, the forces confiscated the posts on which the panels were placed. The confiscation was carried out while members of the Comet-ME non-profit were performing maintenance on one of the solar panels. Filmed by Nasser Nawaj'ah, B'Tselem

10 August 2022 al-'Auja, Wadi al-Ahmar

Israel demolishes family’s home, seasonal dwellings and other structures in al-’Auja and Wadi al-Ahmar community, Jordan Valley

On Wednesday, 10 August 2022, at around 5:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military and Border Police escort and a bulldozer at the town of al-’Auja in Jericho District. The forces demolished a residential tent of a family of eight, including three minors, a livestock enclosure, a livestock pen, a chicken coop and a tent used as a kitchen. That morning, at around 6:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military and Border Police escort and a bulldozer at the community of Wadi al-Ahmar in the southern Jordan Valley. The forces demolished two seasonal residential shacks belonging to a family of seven, including five minors, who do not reside there during the summer.

8 August 2022 al-Buweib

Israel demolishes Palestinian home in the village of al-Buweib, South Hebron Hills

On Monday, 8 August 2022, at around noon, Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military and Border Police escort and a bulldozer at the al-Baruq area in the village of al-Buweib in the South Hebron Hills and demolished the home of a family of seven, including five minors.

8 August 2022 Abu Shousah

Israel demolishes two homes and three livestock enclosures in Abu Shoushah community near town of Jaba’, al-Quds District

On Monday, 8 August 2022, at around 4:30 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military escort at the community of Abu Shoushah near the town of al-Jaba’ in al-Quds District. The forces demolished a residential shack of a family of 12, including eight minors, a shack slated to house a young couple and a livestock enclosure. In addition, the forces demolished two livestock enclosures belonging to two other families numbering 22 people, including eight minors. The community is home to 20 families whose children attend schools in the towns of Jaba’ and a-Ram.

Expulsion log

Israel demolished most of the homes in the community of Khirbet Khallet a-Dabe’ in Masafer Yatta, the South Hebron Hills, leaving 49 people, including 27 minors, homeless

5 May 2025

On Monday, 5 May 2025, in the morning hours, Civil Administration personnel, escorted by Border Police officers and soldiers and equipped with an excavator and bulldozer, arrived in the community of Khirbet Khallet a-Dabe’ in the South Hebron Hills. The forces demolished ten homes, leaving 49 people, including 27 minors, without shelter. Additionally, the forces demolished 11 sanitation structures, two kitchen structures, 11 water tanks, five water cisterns, three structures used as sheep pens (including a cave), a hospitality hall, an electricity room, a solar power network and water infrastructure.

The community was left with the school building and four residential homes that are still under legal proceedings. Families whose homes were demolished received tents from a humanitarian organization and remained in the community area.

Khirbet Khallet a-Dabe’ is one of the communities in the Masafer Yatta region of the South Hebron Hills, which Israel declared a “closed military zone” in the early 1980s, with the aim of seizing the area and expelling its residents. Since then, the state has prohibited the development of the communities—many of which predate the occupation of the West Bank—prevented their connection to water and electricity infrastructure, and repeatedly demolished their homes, any infrastructure they tried to build, and even the roads leading to the communities. In recent years, the communities have also suffered repeated settler attacks, often with army assistance, which also allows settlers to establish outposts within the declared “firing zone” adjacent to them.

Demolitions and confiscations in communities facing expulsion

Get B'Tselem's newsletter