Home demolitions: how Israel is redrawing the map of the West Bank
Illegal Israeli settlers release their sheep and perform provocative tours near Khirbet Yerza
Fayha Shalash reports in The Palestine Chronicle on 15 July 2026:
Thaer Shouli never imagined that reaching his home would one day become a dangerous journey, or that the life he had built would survive only in memory. Until two years ago, Thaer lived in Khirbet Tana, east of Nablus, alongside around 40 other families. Then illegal Israeli settlers, backed by the occupation army, launched a relentless campaign to drive them from their land.
Homes were demolished nearly 13 times. Families rebuilt them, only to watch them destroyed again. Even the centuries-old caves that had sheltered generations of Palestinians were eventually bulldozed.
For Palestinians, these demolitions are not simply acts of collective punishment or intimidation. They are part of a broader strategy to reshape the geography of the occupied West Bank by emptying strategically located Palestinian communities and making way for the expansion of illegal Jewish settlements. What happened in Tana—and what continues to unfold across dozens of villages—is emblematic of this policy.
Today, Thaer coordinates the popular campaign to defend Tana. He explained to the Palestine Chronicle that the village dates back to the Roman era, as evidenced by its ancient pools, and is surrounded by fertile plains and vast grazing lands.
Its strategic importance, however, extends beyond its history. Tana lies between the settlements of Itamar, south of Nablus, and Elon Moreh to the north, making control over the area a key objective for settlement expansion.
“They demolished our homes several times, but we remained steadfast,” Thaer told the Palestine Chronicle. “Then they destroyed them again, preventing us from taking refuge even in the caves, which they later demolished as well. Eventually, all the families were forced to leave under repeated attacks by both the army and the settlers.”
Today, Tana has been transformed into a recreational area for Israeli settlers.
Its former residents have sold the livestock that once sustained their livelihoods and now live in the nearby town of Beit Furik, displaced from the land where generations of their families had lived.
‘If You Don’t Like It, Leave’
A similar reality is unfolding in Khirbet Qelqes, south of Hebron (Al-Khalil), where home demolitions have become another mechanism for displacement, followed by land confiscation and settlement expansion.
Several weeks ago, Saud al-Atrash watched Israeli bulldozers surround his two-story, 260-square-meter home. Without prior warning, soldiers began demolishing it before the family had even been allowed to remove their belongings.