Israeli authorities demolished a record 536 illegally constructed Palestinian structures in Yehuda and Shomron during the first half of 2026, according to new data released Monday by the Civil Administration’s Inspection Unit.

The figures show a significant increase in enforcement against unauthorized Palestinian construction, particularly in Area C, over the past several years.

According to the report, 250 illegal structures were demolished during the first six months of 2022. That number declined to 201 during the same period in 2023 before climbing to 310 in 2024.

Demolitions increased sharply again in 2025, reaching 443 during the first six months of the year.

During the first half of 2026, authorities carried out 536 demolitions — the highest number recorded for the six-month period.

The Settlement Administration says the stepped-up enforcement has also prompted another development: an increasing number of Palestinians are reportedly demolishing unauthorized structures themselves rather than waiting for Israeli enforcement teams to arrive.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry with responsibility for the Settlement Administration, said the numbers demonstrate a deliberate change in Israeli government policy.

“For years, the State of Israel stood idly by in the face of the ‘Salam Fayyad Plan,’ whose goal was to create facts on the ground and force the establishment of a Palestinian state through the takeover of state lands and the systematic mass construction of buildings in Area C,” Smotrich said.

Smotrich said the current government has undertaken what he described as a “revolution” in Yehuda and Shomron, combining the expansion of Jewish communities with increased enforcement against illegal Palestinian construction.

“Since the beginning of this government’s term, we have led a revolution in Judea and Samaria — both by establishing 104 new communities and 160 farms that safeguard more than one million dunams of state land, and by simultaneously declaring an uncompromising war against the illegal Arab takeover,” he said.

Smotrich credited personnel from the Civil Administration’s Inspection Unit for the increased enforcement, saying that for the first time the number of demolitions has surpassed the number of newly constructed illegal Palestinian structures.

“The hard work by the Inspection Unit personnel is bearing fruit, and for the first time there are more demolitions than new illegal Arab construction,” Smotrich said.

“And this is only the beginning — every illegal structure will be removed.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)