JERUSALEM, Tuesday, May 28, 2024 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation today demolished a Palestinian residential building at Silwan in the occupied city of Jerusalem, according to local sources.

They said that the occupation forces barged their way into the Ein al-Lozeh neighborhood in Silwan and cordoned off a three-storey residential building before a bulldozer demolished it, reducing it to rubble.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center said that the building belongs to the al-Halhouli family, who began carrying out the demolition process themselves, before the occupation bulldozer completed the demolition.

Using the pretext of illegal building, Israel demolishes houses on a regular basis to restrict Palestinian expansion in occupied Jerusalem.

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

Although Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian Territory that has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, they are denied their citizenship rights and are instead classified only as "residents" whose permits can be revoked if they move away from the city for more than a few years.

They are also discriminated against in all aspects of life including housing, employment and services, and are unable to access services in the West Bank due to the construction of Israel's separation wall.

According to a report by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, the Israeli occupation High Court could be liable for war crimes for their policies that led to the dispossession of Palestinians from their properties in Area C of the West Bank.

The report, Fake Justice, shows that the court’s support of Israeli planning policy is tantamount to support for dispossession and forcible transfer of Palestinians, a war crime under international law.

K.F.