Israeli National Security Minister Ben Gvir Oversees Bulldozer Demolition of Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

On Tuesday, Itamar Ben Gvir arrived at the al-Tur neighbourhood in East Jerusalem accompanied by heavily armed police and climbed into a demolition bulldozer, filming the operation for social media. Around 3 a.m., soldiers entered the five-storey building, opened doors without warning and expelled roughly 70 occupants, most of whom were women and children, preventing them from taking any possessions. Ben Gvir later wrote on X that the “governance bulldozers” had reclaimed the land, framing the demolition as evidence of his policy ahead of the imminent elections.

The residents had been served a final eviction notice on Monday, after years of denied building permits, multiple rejected court appeals, and cumulative fines amounting to tens of thousands of dollars. The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate labeled the minister’s involvement as incitement and part of a broader displacement strategy aimed at altering the demographic makeup of occupied East Jerusalem. The demolition adds to a reported 427 demolitions in Jerusalem between January and September, and follows an OCHA report that 86 Palestinian structures were razed across the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a single week, displacing 147 people, including 73 children.