Video| ‘Israel’ forces Palestinian family to self-demolish home in Jerusalem

Occupied Jerusalem (QNN)- Israeli occupation authorities have forced a Palestinian family to self-demolish its own house in Al-Tour neighborhood in the occupied city of Jerusalem earlier on Wednesday.

At the order of the Israeli occupation municipality, the family of Abulhawa has self-demolished its house in Al-Tour to avoid paying a fine in exorbitant demolition costs to the Israeli municipality (the staff and the police) if it carries out the demolition.

“We will remain steadfast…like.our ancestors who lived and died in this town.. and we will build for our children,” said the owner of the house, Mohammed Amin Abulhawa.

بلدية الاحتلال في #القدس تجبر الفلسطيني محمد أمين أبو الهوى على هدم منزله: "صامدون مثل أجدادنا عاشوا وماتوا بالبلد وسنبني للأولاد". pic.twitter.com/JTTPTU77Bd

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) July 28, 2021

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 the occupation government built tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem for Jews with a goal to offset the demographic balance in favour of the Israeli settlers in the occupied city.

‘Israel’ has been moving its citizens into the neighbourhood since the 1980s. This has resulted in numerous human rights violations, including the forced eviction and displacement of Palestinian residents.

Hundreds of Palestinian families are being threatened with evictions and house demolitions from their homes by illegal settler groups, fully supported by the Israeli government.

There are nearly 700,000 Israeli settlers living in 256 illegal settlements and outposts scattered across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.

The Israeli court had previously rejected many appeals filed by the residents of Jerusalem, and allowed “Ateret Cohanim” to continue its procedures relevant to the immediate expelling of the Palestinian families.

Ateret Cohanim, a settler organization, has been seeking, with the support of Israeli occupation authorities, to forcibly evict some Palestinian families in Silwan, claiming the land is rightfully owned by a Jewish trust active in the area more than 100 years ago.