26/09/2026
In their latest Humanitarian Situation Report sent out on 18 September 2026, United Nations OCHA occupied Palestinian territory has reported that more than 4,300 Palestinians have been displaced across the West Bank this year due to demolitions, evictions, settler attacks and related access restrictions.
"During the reporting period, Israeli authorities demolished or forced Palestinians to demolish 46 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain. As a result, 57 Palestinians were displaced, including 42 in Area C and 15 in East Jerusalem. Two additional Palestinians were displaced after their home was rendered uninhabitable during an operation by Israeli forces in Area B of Tubas governorate. Demolitions also affected Palestinians through the loss of livelihood, agricultural and WASH structures. Notably, on 9 September, Israeli forces demolished 19 agricultural, commercial and other livelihood structures in and around Arrana village in Jenin governorate, affecting 19 families comprising 81 people and resulting in the loss of livelihood assets and facilities.
The largest demolition incident during the reporting period took place on 8 September in Khirbet Al Fakheit in Masafer Yatta, within an area designated by the Israeli authorities as “Firing Zone 918” for military training. Israeli authorities demolished 17 structures for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, including four inhabited residential shelters, eight animal shelters, four latrines and a communal solar panel system that provided residents with electricity. Ten water tanks were also destroyed. Three families comprising 23 people, including 11 children, were displaced, and all structures in the northern part of the community were demolished except for one storage structure. On the same day, additional residential, livelihood and WASH structures were demolished in another community in Masafer Yatta, displacing an additional family of 11 people, including three children. These incidents followed the demolition of 27 structures in nearby Khirbet at Tabban on 2 September, which displaced 23 people (see previous Humanitarian Situation Report). In total, demolitions across the three communities within one week displaced 57 Palestinians.
Between 8 and 15 September, including one incident occurring after the reporting period, Israeli authorities demolished 19 Palestinian-owned structures in two Bedouin communities in Area C of Jerusalem governorate, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. On 8 September, nine structures were demolished in South ‘Anata Bedouins (Wa’ar al Beik), displacing a household of nine people, including five children, and affecting 15 others, including nine children. On 15 September, 10 agricultural and livelihood structures were demolished in Tublas, affecting three households comprising 28 people, including 16 children. Overall, the demolitions included residential and agricultural structures, animal shelters, water and solar energy infrastructure, including two donor-funded structures.
The two communities are near the area designated for the E1 settlement expansion plan in eastern Jerusalem governorate. In August 2025, the Israeli government approved the construction of more than 3,400 settlement housing units under the plan, which is intended to create a continuous built-up area between Ma’ale Adumim settlement and East Jerusalem. Humanitarian partners have long raised concerns that implementation of the E1 plan would deepen the fragmentation of the West Bank, further undermine territorial continuity between East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, heighten the risk of forced displacement of about 4,000 Palestinians in 18 Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities in the area, and have severe humanitarian consequences for Palestinians across the West Bank.
In East Jerusalem, three households comprising 15 people, including three children, were displaced. In Jabal al Mukabbir, a family of five was forced to demolish part of its home, while in the Al Bustan area of Silwan, the Jerusalem municipality, accompanied by Israeli forces, demolished a residential building, displacing two households comprising 10 people. Al Bustan, home to about 1,500 Palestinians, is affected by an Israeli settlement-related plan to build a park, entailing the demolition of dozens of Palestinian housing units. In Wadi al Joz, an extended family was forced to demolish two structures comprising about 300 square metres that housed five businesses operated by family members since 2010, including a bakery and several shops and services. The demolition affected five households comprising 22 people, including 11 children. The family reported carrying out the demolition to avoid additional financial penalties and costs.
So far in 2026, more than 1,600 Palestinians have been displaced by demolitions across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This includes over 1,500 people displaced following the demolition of 1,164 structures for lacking Israeli-issued building permits. Overall, more than 4,300 Palestinians have been displaced across the West Bank this year due to demolitions, evictions, settler attacks and related access restrictions. Settler attacks and related access restrictions accounted for about 60 per cent of this displacement, making them the leading driver of displacement in the West Bank in 2026."
To read the full report:
In Gaza city, 21 people, including 12 children, were reportedly killed, and dozens more injured, when a war-damaged residential building collapsed on 16 September; many remain in unsafe buildings for lack of better housing arrangements.
