JERUSALEM, November 9, 2024 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation authorities Saturday forced a Palestinian to self-demolish his house in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, according to local sources.
They said that Mohammad al-A‘war had no choice but to tear down his house, which was home to his five-member family, after the occupation court rejected his request to have a license issued for his house to avoid paying exorbitant fines if the latter carried out the demolition on its own.
Using the pretext of illegal building, Israeli occupation authorities demolish houses regularly to restrict Palestinian expansion in occupied Jerusalem.
At the same time, the occupation Municipality and government build tens of thousands of housing units in illegal colonies in East Jerusalem for Jews to offset the demographic balance in favour 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 occupied West Bank due to the construction of Israel's separation and apartheid wall.
According to a report by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, the Israeli 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.
Since October 7, 2023, the occupation authorities have torn down and razed approximately 360 houses in Jerusalem as part of Israel’s systematic policy aimed at displacing indigenous Palestinians from the city and deprive them of their historic and national rights.
K.F.
