Introduction » Background » Why are houses demolished? » What happens after?
Since Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it is estimated that Israeli civilian and military authorities have destroyed 24,130 Palestinian homes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem).[1. For more information about early demolitions, see for example Ilan Pappe’s 2004 book, A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples, Cambridge University Press. According to data available from the Committee against House Demolitions in Israel, 24,130 houses have been demolished since 1967, 6,000 of them directly after the war in Latrun (the villages of Emmaus, Beit Nuba, Yalo), as well as most of the Dung Gate neighbourhood in Jerusalem’s Old City. (“Statistics on House Demolitions”, ICAHD, February 2009)]
The rate of house demolitions and evictions has risen significantly since the beginning of the second Intifada in September 2000. According to the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions (ICAHD), between 1994 and 2000 when Palestinians and Israelis were engaged in negotiations, 740 Palestinian homes were demolished in Israeli military operations.[2. “Statistics on House Demolitions”, ICAHD, February 2009]
By comparison, between October 2000 and 2004, 5,000 homes were demolished during military operations.[3. As described in the next section, demolitions by the Israeli army are only one segment of the demolitions that Israel carries out. ICAHD documented that between October 2000 and 2004, 628 homes were demolished as collective punishment against the families of persons suspected of involvement in attacks on Israelis. An additional 1,900 homes were demolished between September 2000 and May 2007 by Israeli civilian authorities due to building permit violations.]
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) began systematically tracking homes demolished in the OPT in 2006. From that year to July 2008, 989 structures were demolished (639 in the West Bank and 350 in the Gaza Strip), of which 52% were residential. While this appears to mark a decline in the number of homes demolished, ICAHD notes that Israeli authorities have demolished increasingly larger structures, which house more people.
The demolition of homes causes the forced displacement of their residents. In the West Bank alone, the destruction of some 3,302 homes between 2000 and 2004 meant the displacement of approximately 16,510 people.[4. Save the Children UK Fact Sheet, June 2007] The Israeli incursion into the Jenin Refugee Camp in 2002 displaced approximately 4,000 people. Nearly all of the 232 people displaced in Nablus over the past two and a half years lost their homes in military operations.[5. OCHA Weekly Briefing Notes] Tens of thousands of additional homes have been damaged to the point of being uninhabitable during military incursions. In Gaza, from 2000 to 2007, the partial or total destruction of 7,342 houses, largely as a result of Israeli military activity, impacted 69,350 residents, among them 34,224 children.[6. Al-Mezan Human Rights Organization]
During 2008 alone, 1,151 Palestinians – including up to 613 children[7. Total displacement numbers for January and March are at least 215 (predominantly in the West Bank) and 135 respectively, and at least 95 children are known to have been displaced during March. An additional 147 people were displaced during March in Gaza (UN OCHA). The estimate for child displacement in January was achieved by applying the overall West Bank child population percentage to the known total displacement number for that month. The final estimate for March was achieved by applying the overall Gaza child population percentage to the additional 147 displaced people in Gaza, and then adding this estimate to the 95 already documented displaced children.] – were displaced or affected[8. "Affected” refers to people impacted by the demolition of a seasonal residence; such as the winter or summer residence of a Bedouin family.] by the demolitions of residential structures in the OPT.[9. This data is compiled from reports produced by the Israel/OPT Working Group on Security Council Resolution 1612 on Children and Armed Conflict.] 87 of these demolitions were in East Jerusalem, displacing 404 people, including 227 children.[10. According to the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions.]
28% of children in Gaza have witnessed the demolition of a friend’s home. Nearly 19% had watched their own home destroyed.
