West Bank: Israel Demolishes Palestinian Village Attacked by Settlers

The Israeli army began demolishing buildings and infrastructure in a Palestinian village in the southern West Bank, less than two weeks after it was attacked by Jewish settlers. Bulldozers arrived in the village of Khalet al-Daba in the southern West Bank, demolishing the remaining buildings and infrastructure, as well as the house of a Palestinian resident who was stabbed in a violent settler raid.

Three bulldozers, accompanied by personnel from the Israeli police and the Civil Administration, the body responsible for civilian affairs in the West Bank, demolished several ancient cave homes in the village of Khalat al-Daba in the South Hebron Hills.

They also demolished water and power infrastructure, including solar panels that serve as the villagers’ only power source. The bulldozer operators spared the room that serves as a school. The demolitions of most of the village’s buildings, carried out by security forces, were ordered by the Civil Administration in May.

A villager said that the security forces cut cables belonging to security cameras that were repaired after a settler riot there two weeks ago, which defense officials say was one of the worst nationalist crimes in recent times.

One of the homes demolished by an order of the Civil Administration was owned by a resident who was stabbed in the abdomen during the raid, while settlers assaulted his wife and children.

Jewish suspects in the riot have not yet been arrested. Haaretz asked the police in the West Bank whether the destruction of the village might obstruct the investigation, which the police say “is in progress”. The police said all necessary evidence was already collected.

Since 2023, seven outposts have been built in the surrounding area, which the IDF declared a firing zone.

In May 2022, the High Court of Justice ruled that the residents of eight villages in the South Hebron Hills, including Khalet al-Daba, must leave their homes to allow for regular IDF training missions, and banned civilians from living in the area. The decision was made despite extensive testimony that the community has been present in the area long before Israel’s independence.

As demolitions intensify, the farming outposts inside Firing Zone 918 continue to operate undisturbed.

Most of the Civil Administration’s powers have been transferred to the Settlement Administration, an agency created by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich within the Defense Ministry with the goal of transferring the management of civilian life in West Bank settlements from military to civilian control.

Since then, the only power left to the IDF is to enforce building issues, both against Palestinian villages and also against outposts, which are a hub for extremist nationalist crime.

Source: First published on Haaretz.com