Israeli forces have intensified attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, since the start of the extermination campaign in Gaza, resulting so far in approximately 1,070 Palestinian deaths and over 10,000 injuries, alongside the arrest of more than 20,000 Palestinians, including 1,600 children, according to official Palestinian data.
اضافة اعلان
In one such violation, Israeli forces demolished residential and agricultural structures east of Jerusalem, displacing Palestinian residents as part of a policy aimed at Judaizing the city and erasing Palestinian presence, with the goal of annexing the West Bank entirely. The situation has escalated with Israeli authorities issuing 40 demolition and construction stop orders in Wadi al-Hummus, southern East Jerusalem, a move described as a deliberate effort to uproot Palestinians, according to the Jerusalem Governorate.
The Governorate stated that 30 demolition notices were handed out for buildings outside the separation wall, despite being in Area A and having official Palestinian permits, while four notices were issued within the wall in Areas A and B, in addition to six work-stoppage orders in Area C. The occupied forces have also imposed a 250-meter buffer zone along the wall, citing it as a “security zone,” using it as a pretext for demolition orders under a military order issued in 2011 and reactivated in 2015.
The Governorate emphasized that Israel’s demolition policy is not a series of individual actions but part of a systematic colonial plan. While thousands of settler units are being built on Palestinian land, Palestinians are denied building permits, their homes are demolished, and projects halted. These practices constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, undermining the lives, economy, and future of Jerusalem’s residents.
The Governorate criticized the international community for issuing mere statements of condemnation, describing this as tacit complicity. It called on the international community and the UN to fulfill their legal and moral responsibilities, halt demolitions and displacements, hold Israel accountable, and ensure protection for Palestinians in Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied territories.
Human Rights Watch confirmed that the forced displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians from three refugee camps in the West Bank in early 2025 constitutes potential war crimes and crimes against humanity. Their report, titled “Erased All My Dreams”, noted that approximately 32,000 residents of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams camps were forcibly displaced during Operation Iron Wall in January and February, with hundreds of homes demolished and no families able to return after ten months. The report details raids, property looting, and the use of loudspeakers from drones to force families out, causing overcrowding in relatives’ homes, mosques, schools, and charity centers.
Over 850 buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged, with UN estimates putting the number at 1,460 structures. The report states that these displacements, carried out while global attention was focused on Gaza, amount to crimes against humanity, involving apartheid and persecution.
Since the start of the extermination war on October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have killed nearly 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, expanded arbitrary arrests, demolished homes, increased settlement construction, and escalated settler violence. According to the UN, settlers carried out at least 264 attacks against Palestinians in October 2023 alone—the highest monthly number since 2006.
Human Rights Watch called on governments to impose sanctions targeting Israeli officials, suspend arms sales and trade privileges, ban settlement products, and enforce ICC arrest warrants. The organization described the expulsions as ethnic cleansing, a term used to denote the illegal removal of a specific ethnic or religious group by another group from a given territory.
