‘Israel’ forces Salaimeh family to demolish their house

Occupied Jerusalem (QNN)- The Israeli municipality of occupied Jerusalem forced the family of Nidal Salaimeh to demolish their house in Silwan on Monday under the pretext of being built without a permit.

Nidal said an Israeli force broke into his house and told him that crews from the Israeli municipality will demolish his house and fine him if he doesn’t demolish it himself.

According to Wadi Hilweh Information Center, Nidal lives in the house with his family, which includes three children the youngest of whom is only one year and a half.

Nidal stresses that he has tried for two years to get a permit but the Israelis rejected his requests.

The occupation state has been systematically working on emptying occupied Jerusalem from native Palestinians and replace them with settlers.

Only seven percent of the building permits issued in Jerusalem over the past few years have gone to Palestinian neighborhoods where 40 percent of the city’s population lives, according to statistics obtained by Haaretz.

The UN’s Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted in an April 2019 report that in East Jerusalem “a restrictive planning regime applied by Israel makes it virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits.”

“At least one-third of all Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem lack an Israeli-issued building permit, potentially placing over 100,000 residents at risk of displacement,” it added.

OCHA says that only 13 percent of east Jerusalem is designated for Palestinian construction, much of which is already built up, while 35 percent has been allocated to Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law.

According to the director of the Jerusalem Center for Economic and Social Rights, Ziad Hammuri, the self-demolitions are “humiliating” and “have considerable psychological effects” on families, in addition to heavy financial costs.

But many Palestinians still prefer to demolish their property themselves, fearing arrest if they are unable to pay the city’s demolition bill or fines.