Does Israel Demolish Palestinian Homes, and What Do Israeli Bodies Publish?

4 buildings were demolished under Regulation 119 of the Defence (Emergency) Regulations, 1945 in the summer of 2014, on the State’s own account as the Supreme Court of Israel recorded it in its judgment of 31 December 2014. The same judgment quotes the text of the regulation, under which a Military Commander may order forfeiture and destruction of a house, and records the State’s account that the power had been used “only several times” since 2005. Israeli courts have also ordered structures built by Israelis removed: the Supreme Court of Israel held requisition order 16/79 invalid over about 125 dunams in 1979 and ordered the outposts at Migron and Amona evacuated in 2011 and 2014. No Israeli body cited here publishes a consolidated count of structures demolished.

Figure	What it counts	Who published it	Period
4 buildings	Homes demolished under Regulation 119, the State’s own account given to the Court	Supreme Court of Israel, HCJ 8091/14	Summer 2014
5 orders	Regulation 119 orders then pending against buildings in East Jerusalem	Supreme Court of Israel, HCJ 8091/14	As at the December 2014 judgment
about 125 dunams	Petitioners’ registered land over which requisition order 16/79 was held invalid, out of about 700 dunams the order covered	Supreme Court of Israel, HCJ 390/79	Judgment of 22 October 1979
2 outposts	Israeli outposts ordered removed from privately owned Palestinian land, Migron and Amona	Supreme Court of Israel	Orders of 2 August 2011 and 25 December 2014
105 outposts	Unauthorized Israeli outposts known to the author, stated as probably not the true number	Prime Minister’s Office of Israel	March 2005
15 outposts	Of those 105, the outposts standing on Palestinian private property	Prime Minister’s Office of Israel	March 2005
81 outposts	Outposts evacuated, a Ministry of Defense figure covering only outposts established after March 2001	Prime Minister’s Office of Israel	As at March 2005

The Supreme Court upheld demolition under Regulation 119 in 2014

The Supreme Court of Israel denied the petition in HCJ 8091/14 on 31 December 2014, refusing to declare the use of Regulation 119 unlawful. The regulation, which the Court quoted in what it labelled its current language, provides that a Military Commander “may by order direct the forfeiture to the Government of Israel of any house, structure, or land” from which he has reason to suspect a firearm was illegally discharged or an explosive thrown, and that “the Military Commander may destroy the house or the structure”. Justice Hayut recorded that the regulation “currently forms part of Israel’s positive law”, its validity maintained by section 10 of Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, which the Knesset publishes in an unofficial English translation and which states that the Basic Law “shall not affect the validity of any law that existed prior to the inception of the Basic Law”.

The judgment also set limits on the page. At paragraph 23 the Court stated that “the disproportionate use of said authority by the military commander, which amounts to collective punishment that is prohibited under international law, is precluded”. At paragraph 27 it held that the principle of proportionality “does not allow us to continue to assume forever” that demolition or sealing achieves deterrence unless the confirming data is presented, and that state authorities must examine the measure and its utility from time to time, including by follow-up research.

The State’s account of use since 2005, as the Court set it out, is a count of orders and buildings and not of persons:

• 2 residential buildings in East Jerusalem, 2008 to 2009, with a third use not realised
• 4 buildings in the summer of 2014
• 5 orders pending against buildings in East Jerusalem at the time of the judgment
• 1 further order implemented

Which body issues building permits in Area C?

The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement of 28 September 1995 splits planning power by area. Article XI(2) provides that “All civil powers and responsibilities, including planning and zoning, in Areas A and B, set out in Annex III, will be transferred to and assumed by the Council”, while in Area C “Israel will transfer to the Council civil powers and responsibilities not relating to territory”. Article XVII(4)(a) provides that Israel, through its military government, has the authority over areas that are not under the territorial jurisdiction of the Council. The Agreement prints no percentage for the extent of Area C: Areas A and B are defined by a red line and shading on map number 1, and Area C is defined as what remains.

Instrument	What it provides	Issuing body	Date
Interim Agreement, Article XI(2) and Article XVII	Planning and zoning transferred in Areas A and B; in Area C, civil powers not relating to territory; territorial jurisdiction excludes Area C	Israel and the PLO	28 September 1995
Military Order 59, 8 articles	Creates the Custodian of Government Property, defines Government Property by ownership on 7 June 1967, and provides that the Custodian may take possession	Commander of IDF Forces in the West Bank Area	Signed 31 July 1967, in force 7 July 1967
Ottoman Land Code, Article 1	Divides land into 5 classes, including arazi mirie (state) and arazi mevat (dead land)	Ottoman Empire	21 April 1858
Ottoman Land Code, Article 68	Arable land left fallow 3 successive years without a valid excuse becomes subject to the right of tapu	Ottoman Empire	21 April 1858
Ottoman Land Code, Article 78	10 years’ undisturbed possession of mirie or mevkufe land proves a prescriptive right	Ottoman Empire	21 April 1858

The 1967 text of Military Order 59 contains no declaration procedure, no objection window and no appeals committee, and the issuing authority’s index lists 9 later amendments to it. What Article 68 of the Ottoman Land Code does and does not say is set out in the Ottoman Land Code’s three-year rule.

Israeli courts ordered Israeli-built structures demolished at Migron and Amona

The Supreme Court of Israel issued a final order on 2 August 2011 requiring the State to evacuate the outpost of Migron, to remove the civilian settlers from the petitioners’ land and to remove any structure built upon it, with a deadline of 31 March 2012. The State did not dispute that the land was registered under private Palestinian ownership within the villages of Burqa and Dir Dabwan. On 25 December 2014 the Court ordered the entire outpost at Amona removed within two years, and on 14 November 2016 it rejected a request to delay implementation further. In HCJ 390/79, delivered on 22 October 1979, the Court held requisition order 16/79 invalid as to the petitioners’ registered plots, about 125 dunams of the roughly 700 dunams the order covered, and gave the respondents 30 days to comply, a case set out in the Elon Moreh judgment.

Case	What the Court ordered	Judgment	Deadline set
Migron	The State to evacuate the outpost and remove settlers and structures from the petitioners’ land	2 August 2011	31 March 2012
Amona	The entire outpost removed; a request to delay further rejected on 14 November 2016	25 December 2014	Within two years
HCJ 390/79	Order 16/79 invalid as to the petitioners’ registered plots, about 125 of roughly 700 dunams	22 October 1979	30 days

Source: Supreme Court of Israel sitting as High Court of Justice.

The Prime Minister’s Office of Israel published a summary opinion in March 2005 counting 105 unauthorized outposts, which it states “probably does not reflect the true number of outposts in the area”. The wider record on outposts is set out in Israel’s own reviews of unauthorized outposts. The Commission to Examine the Status of Building in Judea and Samaria stated in its report of 21 June 2012 that, pending completion of the authorisation steps it proposed, “the state is advised to refrain from carrying out demolition orders”.

No Israeli body here publishes a consolidated demolition count

The State Comptroller of Israel published a follow-up audit of the Samaria and Judea District of the Israel Police in May 2022 which counted 12,865 cases opened in the district in 2020 for disturbing public order, security violations and damage to property, and 48,371 traffic tickets, and which publishes no count of structures demolished. The State Comptroller of Israel published a second chapter in the same May 2022 volume on the closing of criminal files, which counted about 830,000 adults holding a record for files closed without indictment as at June 2021 and likewise carries no demolition figure. No Central Bureau of Statistics release cited here carries a demolition series.

Publication	What it counts	Demolition figure
Samaria and Judea District police audit, May 2022	Police capability, case openings, traffic enforcement, uncollected fines	None published
Closing Criminal Files, May 2022	Grounds on which criminal files are closed, by prosecution district	None published
Central Bureau of Statistics releases	Population, immigration, housing and construction series	None published

Source: State Comptroller of Israel, State Comptroller Report, May 2022, chapters 1 and 4; Central Bureau of Statistics releases listed under Sources.

Which figures may not be added together?

Every figure on this page is a count of orders, buildings, outposts or dunams, and none is a count of persons. The 105 outposts and the 81 evacuations do not sit against one another: the 81 is the Ministry of Defense’s figure as relayed in the March 2005 opinion, covers only outposts established after March 2001, and is not net, since the opinion records that some outposts were occupied again. The land categories 26, 7, 15 and 39 sum to 87, leaving 18 of the 105 whose status the author states he could not resolve, so any non-state-land total derived from them is a floor. The Regulation 119 text quoted by the Court is the current Israeli wording, which forfeits property to the Government of Israel; the 1945 Mandate original names the Government of Palestine and the High Commissioner. The Samaria and Judea audit was published with confidentiality imposed on sections of it, so its counts are counts over a partially published document.

Questions readers ask

Which instrument authorises punitive demolition?

Regulation 119 of the Defence (Emergency) Regulations, 1945, in the text the Supreme Court of Israel reproduced in HCJ 8091/14 on 31 December 2014.

Who may issue the order?

The regulation empowers a Military Commander to direct forfeiture and to destroy the house or structure. The Defence Minister may at any time by order remit the forfeiture in whole or in part.

Did the 2014 judgment approve any particular demolition?

The petition sought a general declaratory order and the Court denied it. The Court also held that the authorities must examine the measure and its utility from time to time, including by follow-up research.

What did the security establishment itself state about deterrence?

The Court quoted a Major General Shani Committee slide recording, under the heading “Major Insights”, that “within the context of deterrence, the measure of demolition is ‘eroded’”.

Does Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty reach the 1945 regulation?

Section 10 of the Basic Law provides that it “shall not affect the validity of any law that existed prior to the inception of the Basic Law”.

Who holds planning powers in Areas A and B?

Article XI(2) of the Interim Agreement of 28 September 1995 transfers all civil powers and responsibilities, including planning and zoning, in Areas A and B to the Council.

Does the Interim Agreement state how large Area C is?

It does not. Areas A and B are delineated by a red line and shading on map number 1, and Area C is defined as the West Bank outside them.

What does Military Order 59 do?

It creates the Custodian of Government Property, defines Government Property by who owned it on 7 June 1967, and provides that the Custodian may take possession and take any step he considers necessary.

Have Israeli courts ordered Israeli structures removed?

Yes. The Supreme Court of Israel ordered Migron evacuated on 2 August 2011 and Amona removed on 25 December 2014, both on privately owned Palestinian land.

How many outposts stood on Palestinian private property in 2005?

The Prime Minister’s Office of Israel recorded 15 of the 105 on Palestinian private property, with a further 39 on mixed lands and 18 whose status was unresolved.

Does the Levy Report count demolitions?

It publishes no settlement or outpost count. Its only counts concern nature reserves and parks in Area C, figures presented to the commission rather than measured by it.

Where is the evacuation date of Migron recorded?

Not in the judgment. The order of 2 August 2011 set a deadline of 31 March 2012, later reset to 1 August 2012; the physical evacuation is a subsequent event reported elsewhere.

Sources

• Commander of IDF Forces in the West Bank Area, 1967. Military Order 59, Order Concerning Government Property. Collection of Proclamations, Orders and Appointments, booklet 5, p. 162. Official or primary record.
• Israel and the PLO, 1995. The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Articles XI, XIII and XVII, and Annex I. Text published by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Official or primary record.
• Israeli Supreme Court, 1979. HCJ 390/79 Dweikat v. Government of Israel (the Elon Moreh case). Judgment of 22 October 1979. Court judgment, unofficial English translation.
• Israeli Supreme Court, 2011 and 2014. HCJ 8887/06 al-Nabut v. Minister of Defense (Migron) and HCJ 9949/08 Hamad v. Minister of Defense (Amona). Court judgments.
• Israeli Supreme Court, 2014. HCJ 8091/14 HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual v. Minister of Defense. Judgment of 31 December 2014. Court judgment, unofficial English translation.
• Knesset, 1992, amendments through 2022. Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, 5752-1992. Unofficial English translation published by the Knesset. Enacted legislation.
• Levy, E. E., Shapira, T., and Baker, A., Commission to Examine the Status of Building in Judea and Samaria, 2012. Report on the Legal Status of Building in Judea and Samaria. Signed 21 June 2012, released 9 July 2012. Government-appointed commission report.
• Ottoman Empire, 1858. The Ottoman Land Code of 7 Ramazan 1274. Articles 1, 68 and 78, in the Ongley translation revised by Miller, London, 1892. Enacted legislation, unofficial translation.
• Prime Minister’s Office of Israel, 2005. Summary of the Opinion Concerning Unauthorized Outposts. Published in English, 10 March 2005. Government-commissioned review.
• State Comptroller of Israel, 2022. Samaria and Judea District of the Israel Police, Follow-up Audit. State Comptroller Report, May 2022, chapter 4, p. 321. Official audit.
• State Comptroller of Israel, 2022. Closing Criminal Files by the Israel Police and the Office of the State Attorney. State Comptroller Report, May 2022, chapter 1, pp. 111 to 120. Official audit.
• Central Bureau of Statistics, 2025. Population on the Eve of Rosh Hashana 5786. Official statistical release.