Hamas Calls Israel’s Jerusalem Demolition Notices a War Crime Targeting Palestinian Presence

Hamas said Israeli occupation notices to demolish dozens of commercial and residential facilities in occupied Jerusalem represent a “blatant war crime” targeting the Palestinian presence, warning that the steps come “within the framework of a policy of Judaization and systematic ethnic cleansing.”

“An official Palestinian report stated that the Israeli army and settlers carried out 1,637 attacks against Palestinians and their property during April, including the demolition of 78 facilities, uprooting and destroying thousands of trees, and the establishment of dozens of settlements”

Al-Jazeera Net

In the account published by Yeni Şafak, Hamas described the measures as an “open war crime” and said the escalation is a continuation of Judaization and ethnic cleansing plans aimed at emptying the city of its original inhabitants.

Al-Jazeera Net

The article says Israeli forces on Monday delivered demolition notices for dozens of facilities in the towns of Ramot and Qalandiya, as well as the Qalandia camp, on the pretext of building without permits.

It adds that the notices included commercial shops and residential homes, threatening dozens of Palestinian families with forced displacement as Israeli aggression against the holy city continues.

Hamas called on the international community and relevant parties to immediate action to stop what it described as “daily massacres.”

The same Yeni Şafak piece frames the Jerusalem escalation as occurring amid increased Israeli assaults in the West Bank and Jerusalem since Oct 8, 2023, including demolitions of homes and facilities and forced displacement.

Hamas also stressed that Jerusalem will remain Palestinian land and that occupation sovereignty will never be legitimate, based on UN resolutions that do not recognize Israel's annexation of the city in 1980.

Beyond the demolition notices described by Hamas, multiple outlets describe Israeli actions against UNRWA facilities in East Jerusalem as part of a broader crackdown.

Radio-Canada reports that Israeli forces targeted at least two United Nations facilities in East Jerusalem on Tuesday, with teams beginning demolishing UNRWA’s offices in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and firing tear gas at a vocational school in Qalandia.

Anadolu Ajansı

It quotes Roland Friedrich, UNRWA’s director for the West Bank, saying, “What we are witnessing today is the culmination of two years of provocation and measures taken against UNRWA in East Jerusalem,” and adds that UNRWA had been notified early Tuesday morning of demolition crews and police arriving at its East Jerusalem headquarters.

Radio-Canada also states that staff had not been operating from those premises for nearly a year for security reasons, but Israeli forces confiscated equipment and expelled private security guards hired to protect the site.

UN News describes the demolition of UNRWA headquarters by Israeli security forces using bulldozers on Tuesday in occupied East Jerusalem as drawing “strong condemnation from the UN Secretary-General,” with Farhan Haq saying the Sheikh Jarrah complex remains “United Nations property, inviolable and protected from interference.”

UN News quotes UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini calling the demolition an “unprecedented attack” on the UN and saying it represents “a new level of open and deliberate contempt for international law, including the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, by the State of Israel.”

The same UN News piece says the UN Secretary-General urges Israel to immediately halt the demolition and to “return and restore without delay this complex and the other UNRWA premises to the United Nations.”

WAFA, via the Palestinian Information and News Agency, describes continued demolitions across multiple West Bank governorates as part of punitive measures affecting daily life.

“Palestine: Israel seeks to eradicate UNRWA”

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In Jenin, the article says Israeli bulldozers began demolishing the home of “martyr Raafat Badasa” in the city of Silat al-Harithiya, after evacuating neighboring houses, and it says occupation forces stormed the city and fired live rounds at students while coinciding with the assault on the city of Al-Yamoun.

It adds that the assault was accompanied by Eitan armored vehicles and that entrances leading to Al-Sila Al-Harithiya from the Al-Yamoun side were closed.

The WAFA report states that Badasa was martyred on August 18, 2024, when a vehicle in which he was traveling with martyr Ahmed Abu Ara was bombed, and it says the occupation forces informed the family in October last year of their intention to demolish the house.

In occupied Jerusalem, WAFA reports bulldozers demolished agricultural installations in the city of Arab al-Jahalin, east of the city, and says the Jerusalem Governorate reported the demolitions were carried out suddenly, causing material losses to farmers and confiscating their property.

In Nablus, the report says occupation forces demolished a two-story house in the Al-Taawoun Al-Alawi area with an area of 190 square meters per floor, under the pretext of building in a zone classified as 'C', even though family maps show the area is classified as 'B'.

It identifies the owner as Yasser Al-Saber and says he explained the family was forced to evacuate three weeks ago after receiving a demolition notice from the occupation court, resulting in losses exceeding 250,000 dinars and forcing them to rent an alternative house.

In Bethlehem, WAFA says occupation forces demolished a two-story residential building in the 'Al-Deir' area in the town of Al-Khader, owned by brothers Iyad and Alaa Omar Issa, 'Abu Ghalioun', on the pretext of building without a permit, with tear gas and stun grenades used and no injuries reported.

As demolitions and UNRWA actions unfold, the sources present a set of direct reactions from UN officials, UNRWA leadership, and European diplomacy.

UN News says the UN Secretary-General “strongly condemns the actions of the Israeli authorities aimed at demolishing UNRWA's complex in Sheikh Jarrah,” quoting Farhan Haq’s press statement and adding that the Sheikh Jarrah complex remains “United Nations property, inviolable and protected from interference.”

Radio-Canada

UN News also quotes UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini describing the demolition as “a new level of open and deliberate contempt for international law, including the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, by the State of Israel,” and it includes his warning that “This should serve as a warning.”

Radio-Canada similarly reports that UNRWA’s director for the West Bank, Roland Friedrich, said the demolition is “the culmination of two years of provocation and measures taken against UNRWA in East Jerusalem,” and it notes that Israeli leaders celebrate the demolition, with an Israeli flag fluttering above the center in Sheikh Jarrah where Israeli political figures visited to celebrate.

Anadolu Ajansı reports Belgium’s condemnation, quoting Belgian Foreign Minister Aysu Biçer’s statement that the “unilateral demolition of UN buildings within the UN premises in East Jerusalem constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and UN immunities,” and it attributes the statement to Maxime Prévot in a statement published on the X platform.

Anadolu Ajansı also quotes Prévot saying, “The message from Belgium is clear: the two-state solution remains the only viable path for the future, allowing Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security.”

In the same set of reporting, Saba News Agency relays UNRWA’s warning that “What is happening today to UNRWA could happen tomorrow to any other international organization or diplomatic mission, whether in the occupied Palestinian territories or elsewhere in the world.”

Other reporting emphasizes the scale and operational pattern of demolitions and displacement across the West Bank, while also tying the UNRWA actions to wider humanitarian pressure.

“West Bank: Palestinians from Tulkarem driven from their homes by the Israeli army They have no homes left, nothing, prevented from returning to the refugee camp where they had been living since February”

RFI

Al-Jazeera Net reports that an official Palestinian report stated that the Israeli army and settlers carried out 1,637 attacks against Palestinians and their property during April, including the demolition of 78 facilities, uprooting and destroying thousands of trees, and the establishment of dozens of settlements.

RFI

It says the report issued by the Committee for the Resistance to the Wall and Settlements explained that the Israeli army carried out 1,097 attacks, while the settlers carried out 540 additional attacks, and it provides governorate totals including Nablus Governorate with 402 attacks and Hebron Governorate with 340 attacks.

The same Al-Jazeera Net piece says the committee spoke of “systematic policies to impose a coercive environment that translates into forced displacement operations carried out through settler terrorism with direct protection from the occupation authorities.”

It also states that the report documented uprooting, damaging, and poisoning of 4,414 olive trees by the settlers and the army in Hebron and Bethlehem governorates and in Ramallah and al-Bireh, Jerusalem (center), and Nablus (north).

In parallel, UN News warns that in the weeks to come, “water and electricity supplies to UNRWA facilities are expected to be cut,” including for buildings used for health care and education.

UN News also links the UNRWA demolitions to legislation, saying this is a direct consequence of legislation passed by the Israeli parliament in December that strengthened existing anti-UNRWA laws adopted in 2024.

Radio-Canada adds that UNRWA provides aid and services to about 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and to 3 million other refugees in Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon, and it notes that its activities were sharply reduced last year when Israel’s Knesset passed a law severing ties with it and prohibiting it from operating on territory Israel defines as Israel, including East Jerusalem.

Finally, RFI describes how displacement and destruction continue in the occupied West Bank, saying the Nour al-Shams camp in Tulkarem has become “inaccessible, unlivable,” and it quotes Musa al Jundi saying, “It knocked down our memories, all of them. It was my father's house, my mother's, our brothers. We were born there, we got married there.”