House Demolitions Statistics in the Occupied Territories since 1967

These are figures for Palestinian homes. If approximately 120,000 Druze and Arabs were expelled from the Syria Golan Heights in 1967 and their villages (134 in number) were completely demolished, that makes about 20,000 additional demolished homes, assuming six people per family unit. The following sources are by year. In years without sources, the figures were arrived at through interviewing Israeli government or military personnel, or by collecting Palestinian testimonies.

compiled by Jeff Halper, Executive Director, ICAHD
(sources below)

• year - number of demolitions
• 1967 - 6,317
• 1968 - 140
• 1969 - 301
• 1970 - 191
• 1971 - 2,231
• 1972 - 35
• 1973 - 34
• 1974 - 61
• 1975 - 77
• 1976 - 24
• 1977 - 1
• 1978 - 2
• 1979 - 18
• 1980 - 30
• 1981 - 24
• 1982 - 35
• 1983 - 12
• 1984 - 2
• 1985 - 44
• 1986 - 49
• 1987 - 104
• 1988 - 587
• 1989 - 567
• 1990 - 306
• 1991 - 307
• 1992 - 193
• 1993 - 130
• 1994 - 153
• 1995 - 69
• 1996 - 168
• 1997 - 257
• 1998 - 180
• 1999 - 142
• (Intifada) - 4,747 (2,781 military, 1,966 administrative)
• 2005 - 290
• 2006 - 319


• TOTAL 18,147

Sources

• 1967: United Nations General Assembly (1967). “Report of the Secretary-General under General Assembly resolution 2252 (ES-V) and Security Council resolution ).” Retrieved 25 September 2006 from <http://www.domino.un.org>. Thomas Aboud (2000) “The Moroccan Quarter: A History of the Present.” Jerusalem: Jerusalem Quarterly. Retrieved 25 September 2006 from <http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org>. Palestine Remembered (n.d.) “Imwas”, “Bayt Nuba”, “Yalu”. Retrieved 25 September 2006 from <http://www.palestineremembered.com>. The UN Report refers to 850 houses demolished in Qalqilya and 360 in Beit Awa. It also states that the Beit Mersim (Beit Marsam) was entirely demolished and had an original population of approximately 500. We averaged just over 8 people per house to arrive at the figure of 60 houses for this village. Also quoted in the report is the demolition of 18 houses in Surif. Abowd’s articles states that 135 houses were demolished in the Moroccan Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. The villages of Imwas, Yalu and Beit Nuba were entirely demolished in 1967. The website “Palestine Remembered” cites the 1931 British census listing 224 houses in Imwas, 245 in Yalu and 226 in Beit Nuba. According to the 1961 Jordanian census, the population of the towns increased by 91%, 70% and 43%. An extremely conservative estimate would be a 10% increase in the amount of housing by the 1961 census, adding a total of 69 more houses for a three-village-total of 764. This total does not include the numbers from the Jordan Valley villages of Nuseirat, Jiftlik, and Arajish, all of which were leveled.


• . United Nations General Assembly (1984). “Report of the Secretary-General, Living Conditions of the Palestinian People in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.” Retrieved 25 September 2006 from <http://www.domino.un.org>. This is the source for all statistics on demolitions between 1967 and 1982. In the actual report these are listed as punitive demolitions because all demolitions were classified as “Collective Punishment.”


• 1971. Human Rights Watch (2004). Razing Rafah. New York: Human Rights Watch. Jeff Halper (2005) Obstacles to Peace (Third Edition). Jerusalem: PalMap. This number is from a mass demolition that took place in the Gaza Strip in August. It happens that Ariel Sharon was the leader of that mission.


• 1983. Ronny Talmor (1989). Demolition and Sealing of Houses As a punitive measure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the Intifada. Jerusalem: B’tselem. This report is the source for the data on punitive demolitions from .


• 1987. B’tselem (2005). “Statistics on demolition of houses as punishment .” Retrieved 25 September 2006 from <http://www.btselem.org>. All the statistics on punitive house demolitions from come from this source. B’tselem (2006). “Statistics on demolition of houses built without permits.” Retrieved 25 September 2006 from <http://www.btselem.org>. All the statistics on administrative demolitions between come from this source.


• 1994. Meir Margalit (2006) Discrimination in the Heart of the Holy City. Jerusalem: IPCC. Also personal communication with Dr. Margalit, field researcher for ICAHD. B’tselem (2006). “Statistics on demolition of houses built without permits.” Retrieved 25 September 2006 from <http://www.btselem.org> . UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ). Weekly Humanitarian Briefings #s 86-178. All statistics about administrative house demolitions between come from these sources.


• . B’tselem (2006). “Statistics on houses demolished for alleged military purposes.” Retrieved 25 September 2006 from <http://www.btselem.org>. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ). Weekly Humanitarian Briefings #s 86-178