As the pandemic raged this winter, the Bedouin village of Khirbet Humsah has been repeatedly razed by Israeli forces in a struggle over territory in a remote part of the Palestinian West Bank that has been under Israeli occupation since 1967. Over the last three months, nearly 70 structures provided to the community as aid from the European Union have been destroyed or seized.
And recently, undeterred by statements of condemnation from the EU and Ireland, Israel brazenly destroyed EU-funded shelters in the presence of visiting European diplomats. The Israeli government claims that it has designated the area a military firing range, that its residents need to move on for their own safety, and obtain proper permits where it is safe to build housing. The United Nations says it is almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain permits due to a “restrictive and discriminatory planning regime”, that such demolitions are “designed to coerce Palestinians to leave their homes”, and that the demolitions and forced transfer of people are a “grave breach” of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
European officials and humanitarian groups view the demolitions as a transparent attempt at a land grab that contravenes international law in an area in which Israeli settlements have been expanding in a way that erodes prospects for a viable Palestinian state.
The initial destruction of Khirbet Humsah occurred last November, scheduled to begin on the same day of the U.S. elections in order to avoid attention from the Western press. A unit of the Israeli Ministry of Defense demolished animal shelters, solar panels, latrines and tents that were home to roughly a dozen families who make their living raising sheep and goats. The United Nations described it as the biggest single demolition in a decade, adding to a toll of destruction of some 689 structures by Israel across the West Bank and East Jerusalem during 2020 that resulted in nearly 1,000 homeless Palestinians.
EU’s foreign service issued a statement condemning the demolition of the village, noting that its donated aid had been destroyed, and calling such demolitions “illegal under international law and . . . an impediment to a viable two-state solution”. Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney also condemned the demolitions as “egregious acts against a vulnerable population”.
The residents of Khirbet Humsah returned to their former village and rebuilt, pitching tents and animal shelters funded by further donations from the EU, in order to shelter themselves and their livestock before the onset of harsh winter conditions. But just three months later, Israeli bulldozers accompanied by Israeli troops returned, knocking down steel and wooden structures in a demolition captured by Reuters television.
Two weeks later, Israeli forces returned again-- this time as European diplomats looked on. The Israeli military dismantled replacement shelters that had been funded by Ireland and the EU. “There were diplomats there from Poland, the UK and France, ” said Chris Holt, a representative of the West Bank Protection Consortium who witnessed the incident. “The diplomats were speaking to members of the community and the Israeli military came and seized the structures.” They dismantled and took five animal shelters that had been funded by Britain, Ireland and nine other EU member states, he said.
NGO's say the incident shows that more needs to be done to protect the residents of the Palestinian territories. “We strongly recommend Ireland and other donors take concrete steps to hold Israel accountable for the destruction of humanitarian aid,” Holt said.
Aid workers say that the repeated confiscations and demolitions have left already-poor families in desperate conditions worsened by severe winter weather, with their livestock at risk of perishing without the shelters. Israeli expansionism has been emboldened by the Trump administration and the village of Khirbet Humsah was among the lands earmarked to be given to Israel under proposals developed unilaterally by the Trump administration and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu last year-- without consultation with the United Nations, Palestine or the international community.
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