OCCUPIED JERUSALEM(Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) forced on Thursday morning a Palestinian family to demolish its own house in az-Za’ayyem town, east of Jerusalem, at the pretext of unlicensed construction.
The homeowner, Mahdi al-Mutawar, said that he had to raze parts of his house in order to avoid paying the Israeli municipality exorbitant money if its demolition crews carried out the measure.
The Israeli municipality had already ordered Mutawar to demolish unlicensed parts of his house within one week. A family of seven lives in the house.
Hundreds of Jerusalemite homes are threatened with demolition or appropriation as part of Israel’s Judaization plans in the occupied holy city.
The Jerusalemites have no choice but to build without licenses because there are no structural maps that respond to the natural increase in their numbers.
The IOA also imposes building restrictions on the Palestinian natives in east Jerusalem and makes it hard for them to obtain construction licenses.
Israel’s systematic demolition of Palestinian homes in the holy city is believed to be aimed at psychologically destroying the Jerusalemite families in an attempt to force them to move from the city.