Country: occupied Palestinian territory Source: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Please refer to the attached file. Israeli authorities have expedited measures to forcibly transfer large numbers of Palestinians from long-standing Palestinian towns and communities in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.On 18 June, the High Planning Council in the Israeli Civil Administration issued a directive to reject all building and planning permits submitted by Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, South Hebron Hills, in the area referred by the Israeli authorities as Firing Zone 918, on the grounds the Israeli army needs the area for “military training”. In the 1980s, Israeli authorities designated Masafer Yatta, along with other parts of the occupied West Bank, as Israeli “Firing Zones” — one of the tools used by Israel, the occupying power, to confiscate Palestinian land and expand settlements, in violation of international law.Over the past months, Israel has dramatically ramped up home demolitions, as well as the arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment of Palestinians and human rights defenders, alongside intensifying movement restrictions in and around Masafer Yatta, to force Palestinians out. In parallel, Israeli settlers from nearby outposts — built within the same “Firing Zone” but not subjected to eviction — have conducted daily attacks and harassment of Palestinians, including older people, women and children, in order to force them to leave.The recent directive by the Israeli Civil Administration effectively paves the way for the Israeli army to demolish existing structures in the area and expel the approximately 1,200 Palestinians, who have been living there for decades. This would amount to forcible transfer, which is a war crime. It could also amount to a crime against humanity if committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.Since 7 October 2023 and as of 31 May 2025, 6,463 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced following the demolition of their homes by Israel according to OCHA; a figure which does not include the approximately 40,000 Palestinians displaced from three refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarem as a result of heavily militarised Israeli operations in northern West Bank since January 2025. During the same period, over 2,200 Palestinians were forcibly displaced by settler attacks and access restrictions.Countless other Palestinian communities are facing the same fate of forced displacement. On 10 June 2025, the Jerusalem municipality reportedly issued demolition notices for the entire village of An Nu’man, which is home to 150 Palestinians. The village, located near Bethlehem, was cut off from the rest of the West Bank by the construction of the Wall and incorporated into Israel’s unilaterally declared boundaries of the Jerusalem municipality. Most of its Palestinian inhabitants were not provided with Jerusalem IDs, effectively rendering them unable to access services in either East Jerusalem or the rest of the West Bank. These demolition notices appear to be another step by Israel to compound the coercive environment and forcibly transfer Palestinians from the village and consolidate the annexation of this land.Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem also face the ongoing threat of forced eviction from their homes and lands. On 16 and 22 June, the Israeli Supreme Court endorsed the eviction of five Palestinian families — comprising 37 individuals — from their homes in the Batn El Hawa neighbourhood of Silwan. The rulings were based on discriminatory laws that permit Jewish individuals to reclaim property lost in the 1948 war, while denying Palestinians the same rights. In addition, on 11 June the Israel Land Authority issued eviction notices for residencies in Umm Tuba, impacting 150 Palestinians, who were informed that the land was registered to the Jewish National Fund under the “settlement of land title”. These evictions form part of a concerted campaign by the Israeli State and settler organisations, which target Palestinian neighbourhoods to seize Palestinian homes and expand Jewish settlements. Such acts violate international law, which prohibits the confiscation of private property in occupied territory and the annexation of such territory, as highlighted by the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice last July.ENDS