Israel demolishes thousands of Palestinian buildings, including disability rehab centre

Over the past few weeks, Israel has demolished thousands of buildings across Gaza. A huge number of the demolitions have been planned. After over a year of genocide and relentless bombing of Gaza, Israel is now further flattening the rubble and what little infrastructure remains.

Reports have also emerged of Israel bombing a vital disability centre. Horrifyingly, some of the demolitions appear to be aimed towards the creation of a concentration camp in Rafah.

Israel flattening rubble

The BBC reported that:

Verified footage shows large explosions unleashing plumes of dust and debris, as Israeli forces carry out controlled demolitions on tower blocks, schools and other infrastructure.

Multiple legal experts told BBC Verify that Israel may have committed war crimes under the Geneva Convention, which largely prohibits the destruction of infrastructure by an occupying power.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and their spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said that the demolitions were:

contributing to the ongoing consolidation of annexation of West Bank territory by Israel, in violation of international law.

Since the launch of Israel’s operation “Iron Wall” in the north of the occupied West Bank earlier this year, about 30,000 Palestinians remain forcibly displaced.

The OHCHR confirmed that the demolitions are a violation of Israel’s obligations as an occupying power, adding:

Permanently displacing the civilian population within occupied territory amounts to unlawful transfer, a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and, depending on the circumstances, may also amount to a crime against humanity.

Disabled Palestinians

In Jenin refugee camp, a rehabilitation centre for disabled people is under attack. Al Jazeera reported that the Al-Jaleel Society for Care and Community-based Rehabilitation has been subject to repeated attacks and is entirely destroyed. A senior advocacy officer for Palestine operations at Humanity and Inclusion, Al-Jaleel’s partner organisation, Zaid Am-Ali, said:

This is not the first time the centre has been targeted, the Israeli military has destroyed parts of it during previous acts of demolition in the refugee camp and has breached and ransacked the centre and tampered with assistive devices meant for persons with disabilities.

The centre has been operating in Jenin for over 30 years. The UN found that before Israel’s current genocide of Palestine:

one in five families surveyed had at least one person with disabilities. Nearly half of them included a child with disabilities.

Now, after months of brutal bombing, the needs of an increasingly growing disabled population cannot be met amongst Israel’s brutality. Al Jazeera reported that:

As well as prosthetics, orthotics and physical and occupational therapies, Al-Jaleel also offers psychological support for those affected by disability and continuing violent assaults perpetrated by the Israeli military, which has been attacking Jenin on a regular basis for years, but has intensified operations since the start of 2025.

Now, with the destruction of the centre, the already scant resources for disabled Palestinians are next to nothing. And, as is becoming characteristic of Israel, the military has told workers at the disability centre in Jenin that they have secured the area for:

military and security purposes.

Demolishing homes

In addition to decimating infrastructure they’d already bombed into destruction, Israeli forces have also demolished Palestinian homes in the West Bank. Such a practice is written into the soul of Israel. The Zionist entity have been demolishing Palestinian homes continuously since 1948.

Anadolu Agency reported:

Military bulldozers stormed the town of Qabatiya in the northern West Bank and razed the buildings owned by three Palestinians killed by Israeli army fire last year, the sources said.

Again, this is a customary tactic for the genocidaires:

Israel routinely demolishes the family homes of Palestinians it accuses of carrying out attacks, a policy widely condemned by human rights groups as collective punishment.

Israel have also increased demolitions in Rafah in preparation of the creation of their concentration camp. Al Jazeera reported that the number of demolished buildings in Rafah has risen from 15,000 to 28,600:

This means that approximately 12,800 buildings were destroyed between early April and early July alone – a marked acceleration in demolitions that has coincided with Israel’s new push into Rafah launched in late March 2025.

As the Canary previously reported, Reuters have seen documents for these concentration camps.

Featured image via the Canary