VIDEO| ‘Israel’ forces Palestinian family to self-demolish its house in Jerusalem
Occupied Jerusalem(QNN)- Israeli occupation authorities on Saturday forced a Palestinian family to self-demolish its own house, under the pretext of building without a permit, at the Salah El-Din Street area in occupied Jerusalem.
At the order of the Israeli occupation municipality, the Jerusalemite family of Azzam Abu Assab, which consists of 10 members, self-demolished, this morning, its own house in the Salah El-Din Street area 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.
Abu Assab said the Israeli occupation municipality ordered 10 days ago to self-demolish the house despite the fact he had paid a fine of 30,000 shekels in installments to the occupation municipality.
“It is hard to destroy your own house with your hands. It is not easy.. It feels like they [Israeli occupation] take your heart. But we are steadfast and will not leave our homeland,” Abu Assab said.
Media coverage: "Israeli occupation authorities force Palestinian man Azzam Abu Assab to self-demolish his home in Shufat town, occupied Jerusalem, displacing 10 people." pic.twitter.com/AuTTQyQDsh
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 29, 2022
"We are steadfast and will not leave our homeland"
A Palestinian man, Azzam Abu Assab, today was forced to self-demolish his home by Israeli occupation authorities in occupied Jerusalem, displacing his 10-member family. pic.twitter.com/rvsXI7Jpr9
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 29, 2022
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 favour of the Israeli settlers in the occupied city.
‘Israel’ has been moving settlers into the occupied Jerusalem neighbourhoods 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.
Since the start of October, over 8 Palestinian families in occupied Jerusalem have been forced to self-demolish their houses at the pressure of the Israeli occupation authorities to avoid paying fines.
