On December 22, 2025, the Silwan neighborhood in East Jerusalem was jolted by the roar of excavators as Israeli forces demolished a four-story residential building. The structure, home to about 90 Palestinian residents living in 13 separate units, was reduced to rubble in a matter of hours. According to the Israeli rights group Ir Amim, it was the largest residential demolition in the area this year—a stark milestone in a year already marked by mounting tensions and widespread displacement.
Just a day later, the pattern continued north of occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli forces began demolishing shops near the Qalandiya refugee camp, as part of what witnesses and medical officials described as a wide-ranging military incursion across several Palestinian neighborhoods. The raids, which started early on December 23, extended into the nearby town of Kafr Aqab. There, Israeli troops conducted house searches, forcibly evicted residents, and converted at least three homes into temporary military outposts, as reported by Al Jazeera and corroborated by local media.
The pace and scale of these operations have left many Palestinians reeling. The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that its medical teams treated at least three people injured during the Qalandiya and Kafr Aqab raids, including one person with a bullet wound to the thigh and others with shrapnel injuries or wounds from physical assault. The Jerusalem governorate confirmed that at least three Palestinians were injured by Israeli gunfire, while dozens more suffered from suffocation due to tear gas and stun grenades. The Palestinian Wafa news agency added that several Palestinians, including Anan Mohammed Taha and his father Mohammed Taha, were detained during the large-scale incursion, which was accompanied by the deployment of military vehicles and bulldozers.
Residents described a climate of "intimidation" and "anxiety," with Israeli forces ordering families to evacuate their homes and, in some cases, converting community spaces into military outposts. Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent reported that Israeli troops stormed the youth club inside the Qalandiya refugee camp, turning it into a temporary military base. Journalists covering the operation were not spared: stun grenades and tear gas canisters were fired in the direction of Al Jazeera Arabic reporters, while students returning from school were also targeted with stun grenades, according to Jerusalem governorate authorities. Private surveillance cameras were seized in the process.
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Kafr Aqab, painted a grim picture: "They have raided Palestinian stores, Palestinian shops, and they've destroyed some of the plaques, some of the advertisement billboards that were here," she said, describing an atmosphere where the daily reality for Palestinians is shaped by such raids. "This is part of the anxiety that Palestinians live through day in and day out as these Israeli raids continue on a daily basis." Ibrahim further noted that Israeli incursions across the West Bank now average "60 raids per day."
In addition to the destruction of homes and shops, Israeli forces confiscated goods from commercial establishments in Qalandiya, Kafr Aqab, and parts of northern Jerusalem, citing unpaid municipal taxes. Most Palestinians in these neighborhoods hold Jerusalem residency identification cards, yet they say they are subject to high municipal taxes while receiving few basic services in return. These economic pressures, combined with the physical destruction of property, have left communities feeling besieged.
The scale of demolition this year has been extraordinary. According to the United Nations, more than 460 Palestinian-owned buildings have been demolished in East Jerusalem in 2025 alone, displacing hundreds of Palestinians—including over 240 children. The United Nations estimates that about 500 Palestinians have been displaced in East Jerusalem this year due to these demolitions. NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi reported that after the Silwan demolition, "the Palestinian authority said a hundred people are now homeless. We talked to the head of the Silwan neighborhood committee. And he said that people, including their children, were sleeping on the street last night."
Why are these demolitions happening? Israeli authorities claim the buildings are "illegal," constructed without the proper permits. However, critics argue that the permit system is stacked against Palestinians, making it virtually impossible for them to obtain legal permission to build. As Al-Shalchi explained on NPR, "some say that the whole permit system is set up to discriminate against Palestinians, that it's highly restrictive, making it kind of impossible to obtain these permits." The result is that many demolitions are actually carried out by Palestinian residents themselves, under threat of hefty fines and mounting legal pressures.
Yoni Mizrachi of Peace Now, an Israeli organization advocating for a two-state solution, offered a blunt assessment: "The Israeli policy is never to advance Palestinians' house units in East Jerusalem. That was the policy since '67. It's not something new." This policy dates back to 1967, when Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the Six-Day War. Since then, Israel has declared East Jerusalem part of a unified city under its sovereignty, a claim not recognized by much of the international community. Palestinians, for their part, envision East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state.
The demolition and settlement policies have become increasingly contentious as new Jewish settlements are greenlit in the West Bank. According to NPR, the Israeli cabinet approved 19 new Jewish settlements in the West Bank just this week, and the government has pushed forward with the E1 settlement project, which critics say would effectively cut the West Bank in two. The expansion of settlements has been spearheaded by far-right nationalist figures within the Israeli government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Both have openly supported Jewish settlement activity in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, moves that Palestinians say threaten the viability of a future Palestinian state.
Meanwhile, the human toll of these policies is unmistakable. Displaced families, including children, often have nowhere to go after their homes are demolished. Rights groups like B'Tselem argue that the demolition campaign is part of a broader strategy to encourage Palestinians to leave East Jerusalem, thereby shifting the city's demographic balance. As the head of the Silwan neighborhood committee pointed out, plans for new Jewish settlements are already underway less than a mile from the site of the recent demolition.
Against this backdrop, legal proceedings continue. At 12:30 P.M. on December 23, 2025, Jerusalem's municipal prosecutor was scheduled to meet with lawyers representing 13 Palestinian families from East Jerusalem. The outcome of such meetings remains uncertain, but for many residents, the sense of insecurity persists. As Israeli forces continue their near-daily raids, demolitions, and evictions, the prospect of stability for Palestinians in East Jerusalem feels more remote than ever.
For the families now left homeless, and for the hundreds more threatened with displacement, the events of this week are not just episodes in a protracted conflict—they are life-altering moments that reshape neighborhoods, futures, and the very fabric of Jerusalem itself.
