Ethnic cleansing of the Khirbet Jenbah community (Masafer)

On September 23, 2026, around 9 a.m., Israeli Civil Administration personnel, accompanied by military and police forces with heavy machinery, arrived at the Palestinian community of Khirbet Jenbah in the South Hebron Hills, home to about 300 people, and demolished dozens of structures. In total, forces demolished 24 residential structures, 16 agricultural structures, 16 solar panels and 14 water tanks, and arrested one resident. About 180 people, including some 85 children, were left homeless. This is Israel’s third broad demolition in Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta in three weeks (on 2 September, Khirbet a-Taban, on 8 September, Khirbet al-Fakhit).

The destroyed structures belong to citizens from the Muhammad, Rab'i, Amour, Abu Aram and Jabarin families.

“Our homes were torn down today, wiped from the face of the earth,” one resident of Jinba told UN Human Rights – OPT, “This isn’t the demolition of rocks, this is the destruction of years of hard work and memories.”

Broader context:

Khirbet Jenbah, Khirbet a-Taban and Khirbet al-Fakhit are three of 12 Palestinian communities, home to about 1,200 people, in an area of the southern West Bank Israel declared “Firing Zone 918.” The firing-zone designation, together with a planning system that prevents almost all Palestinian construction, serves Israel to advance demolitions and expel these communities from their land. Meanwhile, there are 10 outposts within the designated firing zone.

The demolitions in Masafer Yatta are part of the Elimination Project Israel is carrying out across the West Bank. Since October 2023, Israel has expelled 65 Palestinian communities from their land and partially displaced another 18. The demolitions and expulsions are part of a mechanism of ethnic cleansing and territorial takeover used to dismantle the conditions enabling Palestinians to continue living on their land, while clearing the way for expanding Jewish-Israeli presence and control.

Statement of the Head of UN Human Rights – OPT.

Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes and infrastructure have so far displaced 1,500 people in the occupied West Bank in 2026 according to OCHA — over a third of all 4,300 forcibly displaced Palestinians this year.

“The forcible transfer of a civilian population from their land by an occupying power is a war crime. The case of Msafer Yatta also raises serious concerns of deepening Israel’s violation of international law’s prohibition of racial segregation and apartheid,” said Ajith Sunghay, the Head of UN Human Rights – OPT.