JERUSALEM, Friday, May 29, 2020 (WAFA) – A Palestinian family from the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukaber embarked today on demolishing its own home after it was forced to do so by Israeli municipality to avoid paying exorbitant costs if the municipality carries out the demolition.

Musa Kassab Bashir, a co-owner of the house, said the Israeli municipality handed the family an order on April 26 asking them to demolish the 85-square-meter house, under the pretext of lacking a construction permit. He said the family had no option but to do so in order to avoid paying unreasonable demolition costs to the Israeli municipality.

The home demolished was the only shelter for the six-member family.

Palestinians in Jerusalem say they are forced to build without a permit because getting a building permit is impossible as the right-wing mayor and city council attempt to keep the city’s Palestinian population at a bare minimum while multiplying its Jewish residents by approving the construction of thousands of new housing units in Jewish settlements.

Almost 75 percent of applications for a permit by the Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem are rejected by the municipality, according to rights groups.

M.N