Occupied Jerusalem – Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said in June-July 2021, Israeli occupation authorities demolished 52 Palestinian structures, some of which were under construction, in occupied Jerusalem.
The human rights group said among the 52 structures: 22 were residential buildings and 11 of those, which were owned by 11 families numbering 52 people in total, including 24 minors, were inhabited.
The group said 11 other residential buildings were under construction or not yet inhabited.
5 of the homes were demolished by the occupation authorities and 17 were demolished by their owners on the authorities’ orders to avoid paying a fine in exorbitant demolition costs to the Israeli municipality (the staff and the police) if it carries out the demolition.
The group said 30 non-residential structures including a school under construction were also demolished, 11 of them by their owners.
Here are some of those who self-demolished or their homes were demolished by Israeli forces:
Israeli Municipality in occupied Jerusalem demolished a family home of four, including two minors, in the Ras al-‘Amud neighborhood, June 29, 2021.
Two families from the same extended family, numbering 13 people, including five minors, demolished their homes in the a-Tantur neighborhood of Beit Safafa on municipality orders on July 1, 2021.
Parents of three self-demolished home under construction on the occupation authorities order in the village of a-Sheikh Sa’ed, cut off from Jerusalem by the apartheid wall on July 26, 2021.
Family of eight, including six minors, demolished their home in al-Tur neighborhood on the occupation authorities order on July 6, 2021.
Resident of al-Esawiyah self-demolished home, which he started building in the neighborhood, on July 4, 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 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 neighbourhoods since the 1980s. This has resulted in numerous human rights violations, including the forced displacement and displacement of Palestinian residents.
Hundreds of Palestinian families are being threatened with forced displacement 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.
