‘Israel’ forces two Palestinians to demolish their structures in Jerusalem

Jerusalem (QNN)- Israeli occupation authorities on Sunday night forced two Palestinians to demolish their structures in Jabal al-Mukabbir and Silwan neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center said that Ahmad Hijazi was forced to tear down his own house in the Ein al-Lawzeh area of the Silwan neighborhood to avoid paying 100,000-150,000 shekels (approx. USD$30,000-45,000) in exorbitant demolition costs to the Israeli municipality if it carries out the demolition.

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“I carried out restoration works to the parking lot of my house, turning it into a house. Three years later, the municipality imposed 25,000 shekels in construction fine on me. During this period, I tried to obtain a license, but the municipality eventually issued a demolition order. I tried to appeal the order at the court, but to no avail,” Hijazi said.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Abu Hussein emptied the contents of his restaurant, which has existed for 20 years, in Jabal al-Mukabbir before he embarked on demolishing it to avoid paying similar extortionate costs to the municipality crews if they carried out the demolition.

He said that the Israeli municipality issued the demolition order and imposed a fine on him three years ago, noting that he managed to temporarily freeze the order for several years, but the demolition was eventually demolished.

Using the pretext of illegal building, ‘Israel’ demolishes houses on a regular basis to restrict Palestinian expansion in occupied Jerusalem.

At the same time, the municipality and government built tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem for Jews with a goal to offset the demographic balance in favor of the Israeli settlers in the occupied city.