ICHR Issues Urgent Appeal to Halt Home Demolitions
in Tulkarem and Nur Shams Camps
The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) – "The Ombudsman" – has issued an urgent appeal to Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, following Israel’s announcement—as the occupying power—of its intent to demolish approximately 106 residential homes in the Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps in the occupied West Bank.
ICHR called on the Special Rapporteur to urgently engage with the relevant authorities to halt the implementation of demolition orders, allow displaced residents to return to their homes without delay, and include this case in his periodic report to the Human Rights Council. The Commission also urged the Rapporteur to take a formal stance condemning these unlawful policies, call on the international community to take practical and effective measures to stop the policy of demolitions and forced displacement, and initiate an independent international investigation into the violations committed. ICHR stressed the importance of urgent action to prevent another humanitarian catastrophe, as these actions entrench systematic patterns of forced displacement, threaten to alter the character of refugee camps and dismantle their social fabric, and undermine the prospects for justice, accountability, and holding perpetrators of violations to account.
The Commission emphasized that if implemented, these measures by the occupying power would constitute a clear and direct violation of Article 11(1) of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which guarantees “the right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing.” They would also breach provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) on the protection of civilians in times of war, particularly Articles 33 and 53, which prohibit the destruction of private property unless absolutely required by military necessity, and ban collective punishment and reprisals against protected civilians.
These Israeli actions come as part of a long-standing and systematic policy of home demolitions carried out by the occupying power since 1967, involving thousands of demolitions under vague security or legal pretexts, or for lack of building permits—practices that blatantly contradict international standards prohibiting collective punishment and arbitrary deprivation of housing rights.
The year 2024 recorded the highest number of demolished structures and displaced persons in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with 1,768 buildings demolished, resulting in 4,265 internally displaced persons, severely affecting the lives of thousands and exacerbating their suffering and ability to live in dignity on their land.https://cdn1.ichr.ps/cached_uploads/download/2025/05/08/urgent-appeal-to-halt-mass-home-1746683537.pdf
