In the occupied West Bank village of Ein el-Hilweh, Adel Daraghmeh and his family are sleeping outdoors after their home was demolished by an Israeli bulldozer on July 28, 2026. The demolition occurred despite a court injunction that the family believed would protect their home.

Adel was away in Tubas collecting medication when Israeli soldiers, settlers, and Civil Administration officials arrived with a bulldozer and about 10 other vehicles to carry out the demolition. Kheirieh, his wife, was at home with their daughter, Hanaa, and said, “They came while I was asleep.”

The family now shelters under a makeshift cover of tarpaulins and old blankets tied between bent wooden poles, enduring temperatures exceeding 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit). Adel described their dire situation: “We don’t sleep, we barely drink, we barely eat.”

This demolition followed a similar incident involving their son Hilal’s home, which was also destroyed without warning shortly before.

Allegra Pacheco, chief of party of the West Bank Protection Consortium and a lawyer with decades of experience representing Palestinians in Israeli courts, noted that such demolitions are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern.

According to the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), since January 2023, over 6,200 Palestinians—including more than 3,000 children—have been forcibly displaced in the West Bank, with more than 2,300 displaced since the start of 2026 alone.

The Israeli government has been accused of complicity as settlers continue demolishing homes in areas such as Jericho. Meanwhile, the UN has warned that the West Bank is at a "breaking point" amid ongoing raids and arrests.

Sources