The bulldozers came before dawn. In the Silwan neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, families were pulled from their beds as Israeli authorities demolished a cluster of homes, leaving 17 people, including eight children, without shelter. “They destroyed the future,” said Umm Khaled, a mother of five, sifting through the rubble for her daughter’s schoolbooks. “Where do we go now?” This scene, repeated across the occupied territory in recent weeks, has ignited a fresh wave of fury among Palestinians who accuse Israel of systematically erasing their presence from the city.
The surge in demolitions is unprecedented. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israel has demolished or seized 112 Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem so far in 2023, displacing over 200 people. That is more than double the number for the same period last year. Israeli authorities cite a lack of building permits, which Palestinians say are almost impossible to obtain, as the rationale. “They make it illegal for us to build, then they tear down what we have,” said Ahmad Ghneim, a resident of the nearby Issawiya neighbourhood whose home was flattened last week. “It is a war by other means.”
The demolitions come against a backdrop of rising settlement activity and political rhetoric from Israel’s far-right government. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oversees civil affairs in the occupied West Bank, has called for the “liquidation” of Palestinian villages that are “illegal”. In East Jerusalem, where 350,000 Palestinians live alongside 230,000 Jewish settlers, the message is clear: the land is contested, but the power is not. “This is ethnic cleansing, plain and simple,” said Diana Buttu, a Palestinian legal analyst. “They want to make life so unbearable that Palestinians leave.”
International condemnation has been swift but toothless. The European Union called the demolitions “illegal under international humanitarian law” and urged Israel to cease. The United States, Israel’s closest ally, expressed “concern” but took no action. For Palestinians, words are not enough. “We hear the same statements every time,” said Mustafa Abu Sway, a professor at Al-Quds University. “Nothing changes. The bulldozers keep coming.”
The impact on daily life is devastating. In the neighbourhood of Beit Hanina, a family of ten now sleeps in a tent after their home was razed. Children miss school. Parents lose jobs. The psychological toll is immense. “My son wakes up screaming every night,” said Umm Khaled. “He thinks the soldiers are coming for us again.”
The anger is palpable. Protests have erupted in East Jerusalem, with young men throwing stones at Israeli forces who respond with tear gas and rubber bullets. But activists say the real battle is for international solidarity. “We need more than condemnation,” said Ghneim. “We need sanctions. We need protection. Otherwise, this will only get worse.”
As the sun set over the Mount of Olives, casting long shadows over the demolished homes, a group of children played football with a deflated ball amidst the rubble. Their laughter was a defiant note in a landscape of loss. But for how long? “I have nothing left,” said Umm Khaled, clutching a plastic bag with her family’s remaining possessions. “Nothing but my anger.”
