‘Israel’ forces Palestinian family to self-demolish its house in occupied Jerusalem
Occupied Jerusalem (QNN)- Israeli occupation authorities on Friday night forced a Palestinian family to self-demolish its own house, under the pretext of building without a permit, in the Al-Salam neighbourhood, northeast occupied Jerusalem.
At the order of the Israeli occupation municipality, the Jerusalemite Hamza Abdul-Jawad, a new groom who built his house a few months ago, self-demolished his house to avoid paying an additional exorbitant fine for the demolition costs to the Israeli municipality (the staff and the police) if it carries out the demolition itself, displacing its residents and turning the house into rubble.
Media coverage: "Israeli occupation authorities force Palestinian man Hamza Abduljawad to self-demolish his home in Al-Salam suburb, northeast of occupied Jerusalem." pic.twitter.com/iDTCK98uU6
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 4, 2022
Abdul-Jawad said the occupation municipality gave him a notice in June, ordering him to demolish the house. However, he said they hired a lawyer who postponed the demolition order at least three times.
On Wednesday, the family said the occupation municipality ordered them to self-demolish the house, otherwise the municipality would demolish it and force the family to pay a fine and the demolition costs.
Using the pretext of illegal building, ‘Israel’ demolishes houses and structures on a regular basis to restrict Palestinian expansion in occupied Jerusalem.
At the same time, the Israeli occupation municipality and the occupation government built tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in occupied Jerusalem for Jews with a goal to offset the demographic balance in favor of the Israeli settlers in the occupied city.
‘Israel’ has been moving settlers into the occupied Jerusalem neighborhoods since the 1980s. This has resulted in numerous human rights violations, including the forced displacement of Palestinian residents and house demolitions.
Hundreds of Palestinian families are being threatened with forced displacement and house demolitions by illegal settler groups, fully supported by the Israeli occupation government.
There are nearly 700,000 Israeli settlers living in 256 illegal settlements and outposts scattered across the occupied West Bank, including the eastern part of occupied Jerusalem. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.
In 2021, the Israeli forces demolished approximately 950 Palestinian-owned structures in the occupied West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, according to statistics by the Land Research Centre.
Last month, 8 Palestinian families in occupied Jerusalem were forced to self-demolish their houses at the pressure of the Israeli occupation authorities to avoid paying fines.
