Israeli forces demolished seven Palestinian homes across the occupied West Bank on Thursday, leaving more than twenty people displaced, according to local sources and the Jerusalem Governorate.
On Thursday morning, Israeli troops accompanied by a military bulldozer entered the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, located west of Salfit in the northern West Bank. Palestinian sources reported that soldiers destroyed a single-story house covering approximately 100 square metres in the al-Aqda area.
During the same operation in Qarawat Bani Hassan, military personnel issued a stop-work order to another resident to halt construction on his home. Local sources noted that authorities had previously issued roughly 10 demolition notices for inhabited residences in that specific neighbourhood.
In a separate incident in Furush Beit Dajan village, situated east of Nablus in the northern West Bank, Israeli bulldozers tore down another residential structure.
Further demolitions took place in the town of Biddu, northwest of Jerusalem. According to the Jerusalem Governorate, Israeli army bulldozers demolished five homes without prior warning, resulting in the displacement of over 20 Palestinians.
The governorate stated that the demolitions in Biddu were executed under the pretext that the buildings lacked official construction permits.
The Jerusalem Governorate added that military forces entered Biddu with heavy equipment after first bulldozing land and uprooting trees near a military checkpoint close to the neighbouring town of Beit Iksa.
Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organisations have long pointed out that construction permits are rarely granted to Palestinians by Israeli authorities, whereas illegal settlement expansion continues to receive official approvals.
The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has experienced a sharp escalation in Israeli military raids and settler violence since the outbreak of the war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
These actions encompass killings, detentions, home and structure demolitions, the burning of mosques and vehicles, farmland destruction, movement restrictions on farmers, and community displacements alongside ongoing settlement expansion.
