JERUSALEM, January 7, 2026 (WAFA) – The Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem issued a demolition notice for part of Al-Aqsa School and Kindergartens in the Sa'diyah neighborhood in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Governorate said in a statement on Wednesday that the occupation municipality granted the school administration a one-week deadline to demolish the upper section, which spans 35 square meters, warning that it would carry out the demolition itself if the order is not implemented.
Under the pretext of building without a permit, which is rarely granted to Palestinians in the occupied city, the Israeli municipality has been demolishing or forcing Palestinians to demolish their own houses as part of a policy aimed at restricting Palestinian expansion and growth in occupied Jerusalem.
Palestinians in East Jerusalem find themselves compelled to tear down their homes after receiving a demolition order to avoid paying exorbitant costs to the Israeli municipality if it carries out the demolition.
Palestinians say they are forced to build without permits because the Israeli municipality discriminates against them and refuses to issue permits or places unreasonable conditions that they cannot afford to issue a permit.
At the same time, thousands of housing units are built for Jewish settlers in the city on appropriated Palestinian lands and are made easily accessible to them.
T.R.
