Ramallah, April 8, 2024—Israeli forces have systematically destroyed Palestinian homes and civilian infrastructure during military incursions into Palestinian cities throughout the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces have regularly targeted and destroyed Palestinian homes and civilian infrastructure in Palestinian refugee camps in the northern occupied West Bank. The destruction of homes becomes an influential factor in the preservation of land, rights, and dignity, and a great number of Palestinian households experience displacement, loss of their livelihoods, and a deepening sense of insecurity.
At the beginning of this year, Israeli forces completely or partially destroyed several homes during military incursions into the refugee camps of Tulkarem governorate in the northern occupied West Bank. Many children and their families were forced to leave their homes in the Nour Shams camp, and their evacuation from their homes was exploited by the Israeli forces to destroy and vandalize some of them and set others on fire.
A large Israeli military operation, accompanied by military bulldozers, entered Nour Shams camp in January 2024. The bulldozers partially demolished a kindergarten belonging to the Women’s Council in the camp, where about 45 boys and girls studied. Along with being completely burned down and rendered uninhabitable by fires, many homes were vandalized and destroyed, either by being targeted and exploded with shells or setting fires near the entrances and windows of the homes, forcing the residents to be displaced.
Israeli forces have increasingly targeted Palestinian homes and civilian infrastructure during military incursions into Palestinian communities, especially refugee camps, in the occupied West Bank. These attacks take the form of collective punishment for all Palestinians in the targeted area.
Beyond the immediate loss of their shelter and belongings, children experience a wide range of psychological and emotional trauma. Witnessing the destruction of their homes, and being forcibly displaced all contribute to a deep sense of insecurity, anxiety, and fear.
Displacement and burning of homes
During a two-day incursion into the Jenin camp in the past December, the occupation forces destroyed and burnt a three-story residential building for the Al-Sabagh family, which housed four families and 19 people, including 11 children. As soon as the operation started, the family, like many others, was forced to leave their homes in order to safeguard themselves and their children. While the family was getting ready to return home when the operation came to an end and the forces withdrew, only to find that the three apartments had been totally destroyed by fires, with no prior notice or reason given, and had become uninhabitable.
Witnessing children's tears and fear
In July 2023, Israeli forces carried out a three-day military operation in Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank. Israeli forces bombed the house next door to the Shalabi family with four children, and the walls of their house collapsed as a fire broke out.
The family eventually managed to evacuate to a family member’s house, but shortly after, even more explosions destroyed their home completely. As a result, the children's bedroom was completely destroyed, and there were cracks all over the house that made it unsafe and uninhabitable. He noted that “my children collapsed in tears and fear” when he told them about their room.
It is evident that during the extensive Israeli military incursions, the Israeli forces have intensified a new wave of displacement policies toward Palestinian families, with the aim of searching the homes, and destroying all household belongings inside. The instability caused by the destruction of homes and child-related facilities frequently forces families to move to temporary housing and to relocate outside their neighborhood, which compromises their ability to access basic services and provide a stable environment for the development of their children.
“We felt … like it was our last moments”
In New Askar refugee camp, near Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, Israeli forces destroyed a three-story building that housed five Palestinian families, including 15 children, in May 2023.
“My children were trapped in one room near the site of the bombing, and glass was shattering under our feet, as a result of the explosions, without shoes. My six-year-old daughter Lina* even suffered an injury to her foot because of the broken glass on the floor,” said Fatima*, a pregnant mother of four.
“My children woke up in a state of extreme panic and fear due to the sounds of intense gunfire, while I heard explosions,” Fatima said. “I immediately moved them to a safe room so that we could take shelter. We heard soldiers' screams coming from the first floor of our building at 4 a.m., and after ten minutes or so, everything became quiet. I assumed at the time that the Israeli forces had left the camp, but then there was a loud explosion in the building that severely damaged my house and started to fall on our heads. The explosion completely destroyed the house's exterior walls, including the children’s bedroom.”
“We felt that we would lose our lives, like it was our last moments,” Fatima told DCIP.
Fatima and her family were forced to evacuate the house without any prior warning before the Israeli forces bombed the building.
“We are homeless in the street and cannot enter the house, because of the severely cracked columns, to get clothes for the children. Doing so would put us in danger of collapsing the building,” she told DCIP.
Israeli military incursions into Palestinian communities, including refugee camps, have become more brutal. Israeli forces routinely destroy homes, either completely or partially, and use civilians’ homes as military bases, deploying snipers on the roofs of some buildings, imposing a siege on hospitals in the cities adjacent to the camps, and hindered the work of medical teams by preventing ambulances from moving, searching them, and checking personal cards of the casualties.
Furthermore, during the recent incursions, military bulldozers destroyed infrastructure, which was used as a form of punishment and imposed restrictions on access to basic rights and services in city neighborhoods and camps. Additionally, tens of citizen-owned private vehicles were sabotaged, and many Palestinians were detained, assaulted, and subjected to field investigations.
Destroying Palestinian homes and civilian infrastructure amounts to violations of Israel’s obligations under international law, including both humanitarian law, such as the Fourth Geneva Convention, and human rights law.
Under Article 27 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), state parties are required to “recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.” Additionally, states are prohibited to arbitrarily or illegally interfere with a child's privacy, family, home, or correspondence, according to Article 16 of the CRC.
The destruction of Palestinian homes during Israeli military operations not only represents a violation of property rights, but this violation extends to many basic human rights, including obtaining safe shelter far from all dangers, and also causes severe and long-lasting suffering for children. The emotional, psychological, and physical toll on these young lives extends far beyond the immediate loss of shelter, affecting their development and determining their course in life.
*Lina and Fatima are pseudonyms. The names are known to DCIP but not disclosed in order to protect their privacy.
