Israeli army demolishes 6 Palestinian homes, shelter tent across occupied West Bank

In the central West Bank, Israeli forces demolished two homes under construction in the village of Shuqba, west of Ramallah, after storming the Al-Atari area with military bulldozers, claiming the buildings lacked permits in Area C.

Shuqba village council head Khalaf Qaddah told Anadolu the homes belonged to Wael Salama Qaddah and Abdul Qader Shalash and had a combined area of about 330 square meters.

"Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades at Palestinians during the demolition to keep them away from the site," he said.

"The demolition was the 25th carried out by Israeli forces in the town since the start of the year," Qaddah added.

Under the Oslo II agreement signed in 1995, the West Bank is divided into three areas: Area A, under full Palestinian control; Area B, under Palestinian civil control and Israeli security control; and Area C, under full Israeli control, making up about 60% of the West Bank.

In Qalqilya province, Israeli forces demolished a home in the village of Jit east of the city after storming the northwestern part of the village with a military bulldozer.

The three-story home belonged to Khalaf Yamin and covered about 175 square meters, local sources told Anadolu.

Shelter tent demolished

In Nablus, Israeli forces blew up a home belonging to the Al-Zagha family in the area behind the National Hospital after surrounding it for hours during a wide raid on the city that began early Tuesday.

The explosion sent flames and columns of smoke into the area, eyewitnesses said.

Israeli forces brought detainee Al-Zagha, who has been held for 10 days, to the site before blowing up the home, they added.

Israeli forces raided several homes during the incursion, including homes belonging to the Al-Zagha and Shakhshir families, amid a heavy deployment of military vehicles and soldiers, the witnesses said.

In Hebron province, Israeli machinery began demolishing two homes and a residential tent. Palestinian anti-settlement activist Osama Makhamra told Anadolu that the two homes had been built several years ago and covered 200 square meters each.

Israeli forces also demolished a residential tent sheltering five members of the Radi al-Jabareen family in the same area, Makhamra said.

The family’s home had been demolished about a month earlier, he added.

Home demolitions violate international humanitarian law, as the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 prohibits the destruction of civilian property except in cases of absolute military necessity.

Such demolitions also displace entire families and deprive them of livelihoods linked to farming and herding.

According to UN data, Israeli demolitions of homes and structures in the occupied West Bank in 2025 displaced more than 1,700 Palestinians.

During the first half of this year, Israeli authorities carried out 341 demolition operations, destroying 740 Palestinian structures and issuing 254 new demolition notices, according to the official Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.

Since the start of Israel's genocide in Gaza in October 2023, the occupied West Bank has seen a sharp escalation in attacks by the Israeli army and occupiers, killing at least 1,179 Palestinians, injuring 12,666 others, and leading to the arrest of around 24,000, according to official Palestinian figures.