The demolitions come amid an escalation in Israeli settler attacks on Bedouin communities in the northern Jordan Valley [Getty]
Israeli forces and settlers demolished Palestinians homes in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank earlier this week despite an Israeli Supreme Court order temporarily freezing the demolitions, Haaretz reported on Saturday.
The Israeli Civil Administration, part of the military, demolished a residential compound in the Ain al-Hilweh community on Thursday, just two days after the Supreme Court issued an order freezing the operation until further notice, the Israeli newspaper said.
According to Haaretz, Civil Administration staff and Israeli forces arrived at the site accompanied by three masked Israelis, at least one of whom was carrying a personal weapon.
Residents of the community said they identified two of those involved in the demolition as settlers from a nearby pastoral outpost.
The report added that the demolition targeted several residential buildings, as well as a livestock barn and water tanks. Footage also showed Israeli soldiers preventing residents from accessing the area during the operation.
Haaretz said Israel’s Supreme Court had issued a freeze on the demolition on Tuesday, following a petition filed by attorney Taufiq Jabarin on behalf of the al-Daghameh family, who own the compound.
The demolition order itself dates back to 2022 and was issued on the grounds that construction near roads in the occupied West Bank is prohibited. The family had previously requested an alternative housing solution and a delay in the implementation of the order.
According to the petition, the family has lived at the site since before 1967 on privately owned land registered to the Latin Church, which granted them permission to reside there.
“Israel’s legal system serves as an arm of the occupation, designed to provide legal cover for its crimes. Even in the relatively rare instances in which the courts order a temporary halt to these actions, it is not uncommon that we see the demolitions carried out regardless,” Yair Dvir, spokesperson at Israeli human rights NGO B’Tselem, told The New Arab.
“Time and again, no one is held accountable.”
The petition argues that the demolition order reflects discriminatory and selective enforcement of the law, at a time when Israeli authorities are advancing regulations aimed at legalising pastoral settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank.
It added that the Civil Administration’s inspection unit rejected applications in March to regularise the residential compound. Two months later, it demolished three residential tents at the site and later issued a new demolition order targeting a nearby residential structure, while surrounding settlement outposts continued to expand.
Haaretz quoted a member of the al-Daghameh family as saying that one of the settlers threatened to burn down the house if the family did not leave the area.
The demolitions come amid an escalation in Israeli settler attacks on Bedouin communities in the northern Jordan Valley, alongside the continued expansion of pastoral settlement outposts. In recent months, the area has witnessed repeated incursions involving the seizure of vehicles, agricultural tractors and water tanks.
Most of the Jordan Valley is under Israeli control. Israel’s far-right government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing to annex more of the West Bank.
“The demolition of Palestinian homes that Israel is carrying out in the Jordan Valley, as well as throughout the rest of the West Bank, is an inherent part of Israel’s policy of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank,” Dvir told TNA.
International humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, prohibits the destruction of civilian property unless absolutely required by military necessity. Home demolitions often result in the displacement of entire Palestinian families and the loss of livelihoods linked to agriculture and livestock.
According to United Nations data, the demolition of Palestinian homes and structures in 2025 led to the displacement of more than 1,700 Palestinians.
Aside from home demolitions and forced expulsions, the West Bank has seen a surge in Israeli attacks since the start of the Gaza war in 2023. Military raids and attacks by extremist settlers – who even some Israeli officials have branded as terrorists – have resulted in the killing of 1,175 Palestinians and wounding of more than 12,900 others.
