United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: Demolition orders in Umm al-Khair south of Hebron warn of new displacement

The United Nations Office for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory stated that the demolition orders issued by the Israeli occupation authorities on the twenty-eighth of last month in the village of Umm al-Khair in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, threaten a new wave of forced displacement.

In a statement released today, Friday, the UN office called on the occupation authorities to immediately halt the collective demolition orders, which target 11 homes and vital community infrastructure in the village of Umm al-Khair.

It noted that the village of Umm al-Khair is home to 35 extended families who have lived there since being expelled from their lands in the Negev during the mass forced displacement of Palestinians between 1948 and 1949, known as the Nakba.

It pointed out that for years, the occupation authorities have subjected the residents of Umm al-Khair to discriminatory land regulation rules, in addition to several rounds of systematic demolition operations of Palestinian buildings that have resulted in the displacement of residents.

The UN office confirmed that the occupation claims that the homes in Umm al-Khair are "illegal" for lacking Israeli building permits, which are impossible for Palestinians to obtain, as is the case in other Palestinian villages in the southern Hebron hills and neighboring areas like Masafer Yatta.

The UN office indicated that, in contrast, settlers are allowed to expand settlements and build new colonial outposts linked to the nearby "Karmeil" settlement.

In September of last year, settlers established a colonial outpost in the middle of Umm al-Khair and intensified their harassment of Palestinian residents to force them to leave.

Despite an Israeli court issuing a temporary order to stop construction and prevent settlers from entering the outpost, the occupation authorities took no action to enforce the order, in stark contrast to the rapid and repeated demolitions of Palestinian buildings.

It clarified that impunity extends to unaccountable settler violence, which has escalated since October 7, 2023.

On July 28, 2025, a known settler shot and killed Palestinian human rights defender Awda al-Hathalin during a protest against the construction of a new colonial road on the community's land.

Al-Hathalin documented the shooting himself, and a video recording from another resident clearly showed the identity of the shooter.

However, the accused was placed under house arrest for only three days, after which he was released without any further consequences.

In 2024, the International Court of Justice concluded that colonial expansion, the demolition of Palestinian homes and properties, restrictions on movement, and discriminatory planning practices have created a coercive environment driving Palestinians to displacement, which constitutes forcible transfer of populations and is considered a war crime.

The Director of the United Nations Office for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Ajith Sunghai, stated that the situation in Umm al-Khair represents a model of the escalating wave of Israeli actions aimed at entrenching its annexation of the West Bank, particularly Area C, in violation of international law.

He added: "Time is running out. The international community must exert pressure to protect the residents of Umm al-Khair from the imminent threat of forced displacement, and from any violence or further dispossession of their property."