Beit Ummar News. IDF destroys a seven story residential building on the grounds that “it poses a security threat to nearby settlements”

International volunteers working on a garden in Beit Ummar

(Beit Ummar is a town in the West Bank that we at the Center for Freedom and Justice Colorado have an informal sister city relationship with. The report just below is a typical and almost daily occurrence in Palestine where land seizures, expropriation of property to further Zionist colonial ethnic cleansing policies continue at an intensified pace. rjp)

In the early morning hours of April 21, 2025, Israeli military forces carried out a large-scale demolition operation in the town of Beit Ummar, located in the southern West Bank. At approximately 6:00 AM, residents were startled as three bulldozers and over 15 military jeeps entered the neighborhood and surrounded a seven-story residential building owned by Mohammad Alqam.

The building, which was home to multiple families, was demolished under the pretext of “posing a security threat to nearby Israeli settlements or military forces.” Residents of the area were forcibly evacuated, and all access to the site was blocked during the operation. The demolition began from the top floors downward and took approximately  six hours to complete.

Human Impact:
The owner of the building, Mohammad Alqam, suffered a severe psychological shock upon witnessing the destruction of his life’s work.

This sudden and aggressive military action left families displaced, and the entire community in deep shock and fear. The operation was conducted without prior notice
and with excessive military presence, creating an atmosphere of intimidation and collective punishment.