OCCUPIED JERUSALEM,(Palestine Foundation Information Center ) The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) compelled a Jerusalemite citizen to carry out the demolition of his own home in the town of Issawiya, located in the northeast of Jerusalem, on Thursday evening.
According to the Jerusalem Governorate, the IOA forced citizen Mohammad Odeh to demolish his house under duress, citing the pretext of unlicensed construction.
The IOA routinely orders Palestinians to self-demolish their homes, especially in Jerusalem, under the claim of lacking permits. Those who refuse face the destruction of their homes by Israeli bulldozers and are burdened with exorbitant fines.
The Israeli-run municipality in Jerusalem routinely denies Palestinians building permits, instead demolishing their homes or coercing them into doing so. These actions violate international law and humanitarian principles that guarantee the right to housing. They form part of a systematic policy aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinians from Jerusalem to expand Jewish-only settlements in and around the holy city.
