The village of Al-Duyuk Al-Tahta, near Jericho in the West Bank, witnessed the forcible displacement of dozens of residents after masked and armed Israeli settlers stormed and demolished about 15 stone and tin homes, in an attack that the United Nations said was part of the escalation in settler violence, which has become a major cause of forced displacement in the West Bank.

Published on: 02/12/2026 - 05:52

Activists and residents who were forcibly displaced from the village of Al-Duyuk Al-Tahta, near the city of Jericho in the West Bank, said on Wednesday that armed and masked Israeli settlers stormed the village on Tuesday and demolished about 15 houses, some of which were built of stone and others of tin.

Recent months have witnessed an escalation in acts of violence committed by settlers, which in many cases lead to forced displacement in the absence of law enforcement, similar to what happened with the Al-Kaabneh family in the village of Al-Duyouk Al-Tahta on Tuesday evening.

This attack comes at a time when the Israeli Security Ministerial Council approved on Sunday a package of measures aimed at deepening control over the occupied West Bank, paving the way for facilitating settlement expansion and seizing more Palestinian lands.

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One of the affected residents, Mustafa Kaabneh, said, "About 50 settlers arrived here on Tuesday. They took all the residents out of the homes and started demolishing. Then they took everything, even the chickens."

Kaabneh, who has lived in the area for about twenty years, continued, explaining that the majority of the settlers were "armed and masked, and had one army vehicle...then they came with a bulldozer."

There was no immediate response from the Israeli army to inquiries from the French news agency regarding what happened in the village.

According to Bassem Kaabneh (23 years old), the settlers “beat the women and children, threw them out of the houses, and took our personal belongings,” adding that they told him, “Enough, you no longer have a home here.”

Local activist in Jericho, Jihad Mahales, explained that the demolished homes are located in Area C under the Oslo Accords, an area under full Israeli control.

Mahales added that five of the demolished buildings were made of stone, while the rest were shanty houses and barns.

However, Abu Uday Al-Rajabi, the owner of one of the demolished houses, confirmed to the French news agency that “there is no demolition decision. The house was built 13 years ago and is inhabited.”

Al-Rajabi, who was not in the house at the time of the settlers' attack, added, "I tried to reach the area that was besieged, but I could not."

Bassem Kaabneh stated that the family “now lives under trees” in an area far from the village.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced last week, based on data collected by several UN agencies, that last month witnessed the forcible displacement of at least 694 Palestinians from their homes.

The United Nations explains that settler violence has become a major factor in cases of forced displacement in the West Bank.

In addition to settler attacks, Palestinians in the West Bank face displacement when the Israeli army demolishes their homes and facilities on the pretext that they were built without permits.

In January alone, 182 Palestinians were displaced due to house demolitions, according to OCHA data.

More than half a million Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed, in settlements and outposts considered illegal under international law, compared to about three million Palestinians.

France 24/AFP

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