What it’s like to be a family caught in the crosshairs of Israel’s ‘de-Palestinization’ of Jerusalem
Rubble of the Hamdia family home, demolished by Israeli military authorities in March 2026
Qassam Muaddi reports in Mondoweiss on 25 March 2026 :
The gray sky casts a pale light on the entrance to the Palestinian village of Qalandia, north of Jerusalem. The rugged street at the roundabout looks like an abandoned urban site, with an Israeli watchtower in the distance and the Israeli separation wall cutting through the landscape over a nearby hill. A few cars rush to leave the roundabout towards Ramallah, while an old arch at one side reads, “Welcome to Qalandia.”
Inside the village, the landscape stands in sharp contrast: green gardens, olive trees, and parked farming trailers surround stone houses, separated by quiet, narrow streets. A man stands in front of a pile of rubble, greeting visitors. “Welcome to what used to be my home,” he says.
Samer Hamdia, a middle-aged construction worker, walks over the remains of the house he spent a lifetime of savings building, and where, until recently, he had lived with his wife and six children. Israeli forces demolished it last December as part of Israel’s surge of demolitions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank.
Samer Hamdia shows pictures of what used to be his family home, before it was demolished by Israeli military authorities in March 2026. (Photo: Qassam Muaddi/Mondoweiss)
The village of Qalandia, adjacent to Israel’s separation wall, is treated by Israel as part of annexed Jerusalem. This has made it a target for demolition over the past several years, with some 30 houses demolished in Qalandia in a single night in 2016. Since then, it has been periodically issuing demolition orders to more families in the village.