JERUSALEM, Thursday, October 13, 2022 (WAFA) - A Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem was forced to demolish his own house in Sour Baher, south of the city of Jerusalem, to avoid paying high costs and fines after he received a demolition order from the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem.

The house owner, Ibrahim Hamed, was forced to demolish his own house to avoid paying exorbitant fees if the Israeli municipality crews demolish it, rendering him, along with his wife and one-and-a-half-year-old daughter homeless.

Using the pretext of building without a permit, which is rarely granted to Palestinians in the occupied city, the Israeli municipality has condemned hundreds of Palestinian-owned houses as part of a policy aimed to restrict Palestinian expansion and number in occupied Jerusalem.

At the same time, the municipality and government build tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem for Jews with a goal to offset the demographic balance in favor of the Jewish settlers in the occupied city.

T.R.