Israeli Home Demolitions Displace Nearly 5,000 in Hebron

Nearly 5,000 Palestinians were displaced in just over a week in Hebron, according to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. The figure appears in a long-form feature that Al Jazeera published on November 1, 2026, titled Israel's war on homes: From Hebron to Gaza and southern Lebanon. The article was written by Mohamed Hussein and examines home demolitions across those areas.

Hebron is the largest city in the occupied West Bank, and the surrounding Hebron governorate has a population of about 800,000 Palestinians. The current events there began on October 23, 2026, when armed Palestinian men killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near the city. Israel's response has been a wide operation that has displaced thousands of people, according to Reuters.

On October 30, Reuters reported that Israel had demolished the homes of the assailants. The same day, Al Jazeera reported that Israeli troops were holding at least 12 Palestinians near demolished homes in Hebron neighbourhoods. The BBC has reported that the Israeli military launched a sweeping crackdown that demolished homes and businesses in the city.

UNRWA has called the measures in Hebron collective punishment, meaning a penalty imposed on a whole community for acts attributed to some of its members, and said they violate international law.

The demolitions there are part of a longer pattern. According to OCHA, the UN humanitarian office, Israeli forces demolished 2,491 buildings and displaced 3,534 Palestinians in the Hebron governorate from 2009 until October 23, 2026. Across Area C, the part of the West Bank under full Israeli control, and occupied East Jerusalem, the monthly average of demolitions since 2024 has been at least double that of the preceding 15 years, the feature reports.

In Masafer Yatta, a rural area south of Hebron city, Israeli authorities demolished about 400 structures over 15 years, displacing 969 Palestinians. Nearly half of those demolitions have occurred since January 2025.

Demolitions have also reached northern towns. On July 27, 2026, Israeli forces demolished two Palestinian homes in Anzah, south of Jenin, citing a lack of permits. More than 34,000 Palestinian refugees from the Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps remain displaced.

Israel has issued more than 9,500 demolition and stop-work notices in the West Bank since 2015, according to a report from Anadolu, the Turkish state news agency. A stop-work notice is an order to halt construction. UN figures cited in the same report show nearly 12,000 structures demolished in the West Bank, displacing more than 18,000 Palestinians.

The Al Jazeera feature also covers demolitions in Gaza and southern Lebanon.