Israel Demolishes Palestinian Village in the West Bank
The remains of a destroyed Palestinian home (Wikipedia)
Israel razed the Palestinian village of Khirbet Humsah in the occupied West Bank on November 3. According to a UN official, the November 3 destruction of the Bedouin village is the largest Israeli demolition in years, and a majority of the village’s 73 inhabitants were children.
This is not the first time that the Israeli military has destroyed a Palestinian village. B’Tselem, an Israeli anti-occupation NGO, reports that the most recent time Israeli forces demolished an entire herder community occurred seven years ago in 2013. Both the 2020 and 2013 incidents occurred in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley, which is home to around 60,000 Palestinians––90 percent of whom live in the Israeli-occupied section of Palestine known as Area C. Between 2009 to 2016, less than 2 percent of the almost 3,300 Palestinian-submitted building permit applications in Area C were approved. The implications of failing to acquire a permit are potentially devastating: any structure built without one is subject to destruction by Israeli forces. Since 2018, the number of Palestinians rendered homeless by Israeli demolitions has steadily risen each year, already reaching 800, including 404 children, at this point in 2020––the highest total since 2016. According to the UN, Israel has destroyed at least 55,000 Palestinian homes and structures since 1967. The UN has deemed this a “grave breach” of international law.
The justification advanced for leveling Khirbet Humsah by the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) is that the community had been built illegally in a military training zone. COGAT, which supervises Israeli activities in the West Bank, stated that they “will note that the enforcement was carried out in accordance with the authorities and procedures, and subject to operational considerations.”
Though the Israeli government’s explanation for razing the Bedouin village cited improper building without a permit, Senior UN Development Programme Official Yvonne Helle criticized this reasoning, saying,“Palestinians can almost never obtain such permits” and “demolitions are a key means of creating an environment designed to coerce Palestinians to leave their homes.” The motivation behind demolishing villages like Kirbet Humsah, thus purging areas of Palestinians, becomes clearer in the context of rapidly proliferating Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Displacing Palestinians creates space that can be filled by Israeli settlers. Though the settlements and demolitions have been condemned and declared illegal by the UN, Israel has not moderated its behaviors and will likely continue ignoring such pronouncements in the absence of more significant pressure.
Despite the destruction of their village, the Palestinian inhabitants of Khirbet Humsah remain determined to stand their ground. They have returned to the demolition site, living in tents supplied by Palestinian aid organizations. Resident Harbi Abu Kabsh expressed his defiance, saying, “They want to expel us from the area so that settlers can live in our place, but we will not leave from here.”
The international response to the latest large-scale Israeli demolition of a Palestinian community has been dominated by sharp criticism from the UN and the EU. Senior UN Official Yvonne Helle asserted, “While ensuring that the humanitarian community stands ready to support all those who have been displaced or otherwise affected, I strongly reiterate our call to Israel to immediately halt unlawful demolitions.” An EU spokesperson offered a similar rebuke of recent Israeli actions, stating that “such developments constitute an impediment towards the two-state solution” and that “the EU reiterates its call on Israel to halt all demolitions, including of EU-funded structures, in particular in light of the humanitarian impact of the current coronavirus pandemic.”