JERUSALEM, December 16, 2015 (WAFA) –
Israeli authorities Wednesday demolished a Palestinian-owned house and razed
the area where the house was built on in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in
Jerusalem, according to local sources.
WAFA correspondent said an Israeli
police force accompanied by heavy machinery broke into Sheikh Jarrah
neighborhood and proceeded to demolish the house of Dina Diab, a local
Palestinian, under the pretext of construction without a permit.
Diab said at about 7:30 am, an Israeli
police force arrived at her house in Sheikh Jarrah and ordered her and her
family out of the house and emptied its contents prior to demolishing
it.
Diab said the 80-square-meter house,
which was made out of tin, bricks, and wood, sheltered her and her five
children, noting that her husband has been denied entry to Jerusalem for
holding a Palestinian Authority identity card.
Sheikh Jarrah is one of the mostly affected areas of settlement activities in Jerusalem.
To be noted, issuance of construction
permits for Palestinians living in Jerusalem and in Area C of the West Bank,
both under full Israeli administrative and military control, is strictly
limited, forcing those living in such areas to embark on construction without obtaining a permit, risking the
process having their homes demolished.
According to the United Nations Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), between December 30, 2014
and January 12, 2015, the Israeli authorities demolished 27 Palestinian
structures in Area C of the West Bank and five in East Jerusalem, in addition
to two self demolition incidents, due to lack of Israeli-issued building
permits.
The Palestinian Central Bureau of
Statistics (PCBS) affirmed that the Israeli authorities do not only demolish
Palestinian homes, but also hinder the issuance of any building licenses for
Palestinians in Jerusalem and its boundaries.
Al-Maqdisi Institute reported that
between the years 2000 and 2014, the Israeli authorities demolished around
1,342 buildings in East Jerusalem (the areas annexed by Israel in 1967), which
has resulted in the displacement of approximately 5,760 people.
Many families are forced to demolish
their homes with their own hands to avoid the high cost of paying for Israeli
government bulldozers.
M.N/T.R
