Humsa: Israeli bulldozers on Tuesday began demolishing Palestinian houses, mobile homes, and agricultural structures in the town of Humsa in the southern West Bank to establish a 'settlement belt' from northern to southern Hebron, according to a rights group and a local mayor.
According to Anadolu Agency, the Bedouin rights group Al-Baidar said in a statement that Israeli bulldozers began razing homes in Humsa in the morning. The group expressed concerns that the demolitions would deepen Palestinian suffering, threaten the stability of families, and increase the risk of forced displacement.
Palestinian institutions argue that Israel's demolitions aim to restrict Palestinian urban expansion and displace Palestinians, while Israel claims the demolitions target buildings constructed without permits. Rights groups, both Palestinian and international, indicate that Israeli authorities rarely issue building permits to Palestinians while expanding illegal settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
Ahmad Rajoub, mayor of Al-Kum and Al-Muwarraq municipality, which includes Humsa, denounced the continued home demolitions by the Israeli occupation. "The past three months have seen intensified settlement activity in the area," said Rajoub.
Since 1967, Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The international community considers Israeli settlements built on occupied land illegal under international law, a position rejected by Tel Aviv. Around 750,000 occupiers live in 156 illegal settlements and 360 settlement outposts across the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.
Rajoub noted that the area had witnessed attempts to establish pastoral settlement outposts, but residents confronted them. Israeli authorities issued notices to landowners claiming their land was 'state land.' Landowners have documents proving ownership, including Ottoman-era documents and a ruling from an Israeli court in 1985.
"Israeli forces began using equipment in the morning to demolish agricultural structures in the area," Rajoub stated, calling the move "a policy to prevent Palestinian urban expansion" under the pretext that the area is classified as Area C. Under the 1995 Oslo II Accord, the West Bank was divided into three areas: A, B, and C, with Area C under full Israeli control.
Rajoub warned of an Israeli plan to establish several outposts in the area, which would fragment the territory, calling on rights groups and international institutions to intervene to stop the Israeli measures. Since the start of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip in 2023, attacks by the Israeli army and occupiers against Palestinians and their property have intensified across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
These attacks include the killing and arrest of Palestinians, demolition of homes and structures, and forced displacement of Palestinians. Palestinians warn that the Israeli measures aim to pave the way for the formal annexation of the West Bank, undermining the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state in line with relevant UN resolutions.