JERUSALEM, December 3, 2016 (WAFA) – A Palestinian resident of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan was forced Saturday to demolish his own home after the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem warned him that unless he does it himself, it will demolish it and force him to pay exorbitant amount of money in costs.

Said Abbasi, the home owner, told WAFA that he was forced to demolish the building that houses his and his brother’s homes under the pretext it was built without a license.

He said a total of 12 members of the Abbasi family, mostly children, were displaced as a result of the demolition of the two 300-square-meter homes.

“I have lost over 500,000 shekels ($130,000) spent on the construction, fines, lawyers and architect’s fees,” he said. “Despite this loss, I will never leave my town.”

Khaled Abu Tayeh, a member of Silwan Land Defense Committee, warned about the upsurge in Israeli demolition orders of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem.

Israeli occupation authorities have stepped up home demolitions following an Israeli court’s ruling to evacuate the settlement outpost of Amona, northeast of Ramallah, he noted.

Abu Tayeh was referring to the municipality’s request that the Israeli Supreme Court approves the demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem allegedly built on private Jewish-owned land in response to a ruling to evacuate the settlement outpost because it was built on private Palestinian land.

Palestinians are forced to build without a permit in East Jerusalem as the all-Israeli municipality headed by a right-wing member of the Likud Party denies them building permits under all kinds of pretexts.

K.F./M.K.