OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The Israeli occupation municipality forced a Jerusalemite resident to demolish his own home in al-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan, south of the Aqsa Mosque, under the pretext of building without a permit.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center reported that Ahmad Quwaider demolished his own home under a municipal order to avoid paying more fines and costs for noncompliance.
The center noted that Quwaider lived with his wife and kid in that house, which he had built in 2010.
It added that the municipality already imposed a financial penalty of around 100,000 shekels on the family.
Jerusalemite homeowners find themselves forced to demolish their homes at their own expense in order to avoid paying the Israeli municipality exorbitant money in fines and demolition expenses.
The rate at which Palestinian homes and structures are demolished in east Jerusalem has almost doubled since the start of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, human rights groups and monitoring organizations say.
The demolitions are ordered by the Israeli municipality, which claims that many Palestinian homes and structures are illegally built without permission.
All attempts by Palestinian families in east Jerusalem to apply for planning permission are rejected by the municipality. That means growing families say they have no choice but to build without permits and face the consequences, huge fines and demolition orders.
