Israeli forces demolished five Palestinian homes on Thursday in Biddu, a town in Area C of the occupied West Bank northwest of Jerusalem, in an operation the town's former mayor said left more than 105 people without a home.

Source: Al Jazeera via 234Radio

"The number of people living in the five houses that were demolished exceeds 105. These people have been displaced, left without shelter or homes," the former mayor of Biddu said, in remarks carried by AFP. Ahmad Abu Eid, a resident of Biddu, told Al Jazeera the forces raided the town without warning, despite residents' attempts to stop the demolitions through legal channels.

Israeli heavy machinery carried out the demolitions. Israel says such demolitions target structures built without permits in Area C, the roughly 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli control. Palestinians and rights groups say building permits there are almost never granted to Palestinians, leaving families who build with no legal route to a home. Al Jazeera reported that more than 4,300 structures have been destroyed since 2023 over permit claims.

5homes demolished in Biddu on Thursday
105+people displaced, Biddu's former mayor said
4,300+structures destroyed since 2023 over permits, Al Jazeera reported
60%of the West Bank is Area C, under full Israeli control

The Biddu demolitions came on a day of wider Israeli operations across the occupied territories, according to reporting based on the Palestinian news agency WAFA: two Palestinians were shot and wounded in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and taken to the Nasser Medical Complex, two Palestinians were arrested in raids across the Nablus governorate towns of Asira al-Shamaliya, Tell and Urif, a home was seized and turned into a military post in Deir al-Ghusun, and homes and caves were raided in Masafer Yatta near Hebron, where a vehicle and two tractors were seized.

What is solid

  • Five Palestinian homes were demolished by Israeli forces in Biddu, northwest of Jerusalem, on Thursday, November 5
  • A Biddu resident, Ahmad Abu Eid, said the raid came without warning despite legal attempts to prevent it
  • Israel's stated basis for such demolitions is construction without permits in Area C

What is only claimed

  • How many people were displaced: Biddu's former mayor put it at more than 105, while WAFA- and Anadolu-based tallies of Thursday's wider West Bank demolitions spoke of about 20 people displaced across seven homes — the counts and their scope differ and have not been reconciled
  • Whether the families had any realistic permit route: Israel treats the buildings as illegal; Palestinians and rights groups say Area C permits are rarely if ever issued to Palestinians

The demolitions came a day after settlers moved into eight Palestinian homes near Jericho in a seizure the United Nations condemned. Read: Settlers seize eight homes near Jericho

No Israeli military statement specific to the Biddu operation was reported by the agencies covering the demolitions. For the displaced families, the immediate question is shelter: the demolitions land weeks before winter rains, in a week when aid agencies are warning that emergency shelters across Gaza are already unsafe for the cold season. What happens next for the Biddu families — any court follow-up on their earlier legal attempts, and where the more than one hundred residents sleep in the coming nights — was not answered in Thursday's reporting.