Occupied Jerusalem – Israeli occupation authorities on Friday forced a Palestinian family to self-demolish its own house, under the pretext of building without a permit, in Beit Hanina neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem.
At the order of the Israeli occupation municipality, Jerusalemite Ra’ef Shweiki self-demolished his own house in Beit Hanina 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.
The Jerusalemite said that he was forced to carry out the demolition by himself to avoid paying an exorbitant fine for the demolition costs to the Israeli municipality.
He said he was living in this house with his wife and his two children for 8 years and they now have no place to live in.
“With my own hands, I destroyed what I have been building all over the past years,” the Jerusalemite said.
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.
