Syria: Israeli forces demolish homes, displace 16 families

Sixteen families have been displaced and their homes destroyed by Israeli bulldozers in Al-Hamidiyeh, a town in the Quneitra province bordering Israel, according to Radio France Internationale (RFI) on July 14th.

RFI reporters visited the devastated site, where they met 44-year-old Tourna, her husband, and their two daughters. The family is now taking refuge around a hundred metres from their demolished home, staying indefinitely at the house of the husband’s brother while searching for a long-term solution.

“The Israeli army suddenly entered our house without warning and ordered us to leave,” she recalled. “We had to leave immediately. They came with four or five cars and were all armed. All the houses in our neighborhood suffered the same fate.”

Not far from them, Khalil, his wife, and their four children experienced the same ordeal. Their 120-square-metre home and 250-square-metre garden, once filled with apples, figs, and olive trees, were levelled. Thanks to Khalil’s connections as a civil servant, the family managed to find temporary shelter in one of the few remaining inhabited houses. The modest 50-square-metre home had to be renovated at their own expense.

“They arrived with bulldozers around 10 p.m. and began destroying our homes,” Khalil recounted. “They stayed until 6 a.m. There was no warning. We could only watch, powerless, as our entire neighbourhood was demolished. I never imagined they would erase everything overnight.”

Since the collapse of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, Israel has tightened its control over the area. Access to Al-Hamidiyeh is now limited to a single entry point, under Israeli military supervision. The town is encircled by drones, trenches, and tanks, leaving its remaining residents isolated from the outside world.

Radio France Internationale, Maghrebi.org