On Saturday, the Committee for the Undeveloped Neighborhoods in Jeddah delivered letters to residents of Bani Malik, Al-Wurud, Al-Mosharafa University, Al-Rehab, Al-Aziziyah, Al-Rawabi, Al-Rabwa, Al-Mountazah, Quwaizah, Al-Adl, Al-Fazl, Umm Al-Salam, and Northern Kilo 14 ordering them to vacate in preparation for razing their homes.

The Committee earlier declared that it would cease neighborhood demolitions during Ramadan and resume work once the holy Muslim fasting month was through.

The demolitions are conducted amid substantial local opposition. Human rights organizations have also labeled the recent events in Jeddah as forced displacement.

Residents argue that Saudi officials are demolishing thriving, diverse working-class areas that once made Jeddah the most open city in the country.

“We have become strangers in our city. We feel suffering and bitterness,” a Saudi doctor, who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation from the authorities, said.

Demolition and eviction 

The operation is widely suspected of fuelling anti-regime sentiment in the 30-plus neighborhoods affected, many of which housed a mix of Saudi nationals and foreigners from various Arab countries and East Asian governments.

Evicted individuals had been living in their homes for up to 60 years, according to the London-based rights group ALQST, an independent non-governmental organization supporting human rights in Saudi Arabia.

Some were forced to leave after their power and water were cut off, while others were threatened with jail for ignoring an eviction order, according to the report.

According to a resident of Jeddah's southern district of Galil, where the first demolitions occurred last October, security forces confiscated cell phones to prevent the footage from leaking.

“We were suddenly expelled from our homes overnight and without warning,” said the man, who gave his name as Fahd.

No compensation, warning

Saudi officials have stated that the Kingdom will compensate families for their losses, and the government promised in February that 5,000 replacement housing units would be completed by the end of the year.

Residents, particularly those who were evicted early on, complained that they were not given proper notice or compensation when their homes and neighborhoods were razed.

The Saudi government labeled a large portion of the older parts of Jeddah as slums, vilifying them as pits of crime and vice.

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Those who live there deny this, claiming that they are long-established districts that provide affordable accommodation for the less fortunate among Saudis and expatriates alike.

Their rage has resulted in a rare outpouring of protest in Saudi Arabia on social media platforms such as Twitter and TikTok, denouncing what they regard as the plan's injustice and imbalance.

Bulldozers have left a stretch of Jeddah in ruins, with some comparing the picture to the aftermath of a battle.