Key facts
- A Palestinian home, built during the Ottoman period, was demolished by Israeli authorities.
- Palestinians allege that home demolitions are part of a campaign to erase their heritage.
- Home demolitions are the primary driver of forced displacement in the occupied Palestinian territory.
- Israeli settlers vandalized graves in a Palestinian cemetery in the West Bank.
- Israeli forces accompanied settlers during the cemetery desecration and fired tear gas at Palestinians.
Israeli authorities have demolished a Palestinian home that predated the state of Israel by approximately 40 years. The homeowner discovered the house, constructed during the Ottoman period, destroyed upon returning from work. Palestinians contend that such demolitions are part of an escalating effort to eradicate their heritage and history from the land, identifying home demolitions as the leading cause of forced displacement in the occupied Palestinian territory. Since 1967, the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD) estimates that Israel has razed over 48,000 Palestinian structures in the occupied Palestinian territory, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. In a separate incident, Israeli settlers vandalized a Palestinian cemetery, smashing gravestones during a march near the village of Tal in the occupied West Bank. Residents reported that Israeli forces accompanied the march and fired tear gas at Palestinians.