OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) forced a citizen to demolish his home in the Jabal Mukaber neighborhood, southeast of Jerusalem, on Saturday.
The Jerusalem Governorate reported that the IOA municipality compelled the Jerusalemite citizen Ibrahim Mashahra to demolish his home under the pretext of building without a permit. Mashahra said that he began demolishing his 70-square-meter home, which houses his family of six. He noted that the IOA municipality had informed him of its decision to demolish the house on the fourth of this month, giving him three weeks to carry out the demolition himself.
The IOA forces Palestinian citizens in Jerusalem to demolish their own homes, claiming they lack permits. Those who refuse this procedure see their homes demolished by IOA bulldozers, which also imposes hefty costs on the owners.
The IOA municipality in Jerusalem refuses to grant Palestinian citizens building permits and either demolishes their homes or forces them to do so, in a practice that contradicts international laws and humanitarian principles that guarantee the right to housing. This is part of the systematic practices of the occupation to forcibly displace Palestinians from Jerusalem while expanding settlements in the city and its surroundings.
The Jerusalem Governorate documented in its report on Israeli occupation violations in the governorate for November 2023, 36 demolition and leveling operations, including 7 forced self-demolitions and 28 demolitions carried out by IOA machinery, in addition to one leveling operation. This raises the total number of demolitions and leveling operations in the governorate since October 7, 2023, to 391.
