JERUSALEM, May 11, 2026 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces on Monday evening proceeded to demolish dozens of industrial and commercial facilities in the al-Mashtal area of al-Eizariya, southeast of occupied Jerusalem.
Local informed sources estimated that Israeli occupation bulldozers have so far demolished around 20 industrial and commercial facilities in al-Eizariya.
In a brief statement, the Jerusalem Governorate said the demolitions were carried out despite a precautionary court order obtained by local residents prohibiting the demolition of the shops until mid-May. Nevertheless, Israeli occupation forces proceeded with the demolitions, deploying several military vehicles to the area, firing sound bombs and tear gas at residents, and obstructing traffic movement.
Days earlier, Israeli occupation authorities verbally notified around 50 residents to vacate their shops and commercial facilities in the al-Mashtal area at the main entrance of the town, in preparation for the implementation of demolition notices previously issued against them in August 2025.
According to available data, these shops are threatened with removal as part of the occupation’s dangerous colonial project known as the “Fabric of Life” plan, which represents a practical implementation of the Israeli annexation plan for the area known as “E1,” aiming to establish full geographical contiguity between the colony of Ma’ale Adumim and occupied Jerusalem.
This would result in the separation of the northern West Bank from its southern part and the seizure of nearly 3% of the occupied Palestinian Territory for formal annexation under the so-called “Greater Jerusalem” plan.
The project’s catastrophic implications include entrenching a discriminatory traffic system that would bar Palestinians from using the main Route 1 road and instead force them to use an underground tunnel near the al-Za’ayem military checkpoint, while reserving the surface road exclusively for colonists.
The plan would also isolate the communities of Jabal al-Baba, Wadi al-Jamal, and the town of al-Eizariya, while threatening the demolition and forced eviction of dozens of facilities that have recently received at least 43 notices as part of the project’s expansion.
T.R.
