Israel issues over 9,500 demolition, stop-work notices in West Bank

Israeli authorities have issued 9,518 demolition or stop-work notices against Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank since the start of 2015, a Palestinian government commission said Saturday. The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said the notices halted construction and left properties under threat, disrupting the lives of families and limiting ability of communities to build homes, expand services and sustain livelihoods.

The report, obtained by Anadolu, documented 9,174 notices between 2015 and 2025 and another 344 in the first nine months of 2026. The commission cautioned that its figures did not necessarily capture every notice issued by Israeli authorities. The tally was based on cases documented by the commission and partner legal organizations, including the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center and the Society of St. Yves. Hebron accounted for the largest share, with 2,697 notices, followed by Bethlehem with 1,310, Ramallah and al-Bireh with 1,118, and Jerusalem with 929.

The annual total peaked at 1,333 in 2023, compared with 701 in 2015. Separately, data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showed that nearly 12,000 structures were demolished during the same period, including 1,698 funded by donors. The demolitions displaced more than 18,000 Palestinians and affected approximately 843,000, according to OCHA. The UN office records demolitions carried out on grounds including the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, as punitive measures or during military operations.