Demolitions, and (silent) displacement of Palestinians

“Recent demolitions and displacement

Over the past two years, 126 Palestinians have had their homes demolished and some have been forcibly transferred out of these dislocated communities as a result of demolitions: these include 51 people from the Al Khalayla Bedouin community, 63 from the Tel Al Addasa Bedouin community and 12 from Khirbet Khamis.6 Outstanding demolition orders against residential and livelihood structures continue to threaten other dislocated communities with displacement and/or the erosion of livelihood sources, including Khirbet Khamis, An Nabi Samwil village and its nearby Bedouin community, Al Khalayla and Ras Shihadeh Bedouins.

Silent displacement: the case of An Nabi Samwil

In other cases, difficult living conditions, the denial of residency permits by the Israeli authorities and the inability to build as a result of planning and building restrictions have forced families to move out to the remainder of the West Bank. For example, according to An Nabi Samwil village council, 24 households comprising 125 people, including newly-wed couples, have moved out of the village in the past seven years as a result of movement and access restrictions and the inability to build new homes.

An Nabi Samwil village is located entirely in Area C and has been designated by the Israeli authorities as a national park area. Residents live with the continuous threat of demolition orders; in the past three years, the Israeli Civil Administration demolished 11 livelihood structures in An Nabi Samwil, affecting around 25 people. The Israeli authorities have also prevented village residents from expanding their 16-meter-square school and issued demolition orders on the fence surrounding the school, the newly erected school caravan and the school’s sanitation unit.

Israeli settler violence has also been on the rise in the village, including damaging and stealing car wash equipment and flooding newly planted agricultural land with sewage. At the same time, the few Palestinians who attempted to seek work in nearby Ramot settlement were arrested on the grounds that they are not allowed to enter East Jerusalem.

Residency denied: the case of Dahiyat Al Barid residents

Several families living in the area of Dahiyat Al Barid, located within the Israeli-declared Jerusalem municipal boundary, were forced to leave their homes and move to Kufr ‘Aqab after being denied residency permits by the Israeli authorities. These families were issued two-month temporary permits when the Barrier was completed in the area in 2009 and were instructed to apply to the Israeli Ministry of Interior for family reunification, if eligible, or to leave Jerusalem altogether. As a result, three families comprising 18 people, including three fathers with West Bank IDs, were forced to move to the West Bank side of the Barrier after several years of access restrictions that severely affected their family lives and jobs.”

OCHA Report