On July 9, 2026, security forces forcibly evicted residents and demolished ten homes on a plot in El-Mina’s informal neighborhood of Al-Hara Al-Jadida to enforce a court ruling favoring a private landowner, leaving families without alternative shelter on the grounds of “illegal land occupation.”

This Fieldwatch traces the history of access to this land, revealing how residents were forced to occupy it to secure their right to housing in the city amid the complete failure of state housing policies. Going beyond a simple property dispute, the Fieldwatch illustrates  how the issue stems directly from state planning interventions in the late 1970s—specifically the Land consolidation and parcelation project. By re-dividing land among owners on paper while ignoring the actual residents on the ground, the state created a legal trap and ongoing disputes that continue to displace entire communities today.

Read the full Fieldwatch in Arabic.