JERUSALEM, September 10, 2018 (WAFA) – Ahmad Abu al-Teen, a Palestinian resident from the village of al-Walaja, to the south of the city of Jerusalem, Monday proceeded to demolish his own house after he received threats from the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem.

Israeli bulldozers demolished part of Abu al-Teen’s house last week and demanded that he continues to demolish what was left of the house, or otherwise he will have to pay exorbitant amount on money if the municipality carries out the demolition.

Last week, Hanan al-Razem, another village resident, proceeded to demolish her house by herself after the Israeli municipality ordered her and four other residents to demolish their homes by themselves under the pretext they were built without permit. However, the municipality later sent bulldozers to demolish them after their owners refused to heed its orders.

Palestinians say Israel wants to remove them from their land in order to expand nearby illegal Jewish settlements.

Recently, Israeli authorities have decided to construct more than 4700 new settlement units on lands of the al-Walaja, a possible reason why a lot of demolition operations are taking place in the village.

Since its occupation in 1967, along with the rest of the West Bank, Israel had seized most of Al Walaja land to build two settlements, Gilo, and Har Gilo. Israel later built the annexation wall on village land, further separating the agricultural land from the rest of the village, making them difficult to reach and harvest.

K.T./M.K.