Two Palestinian homes were knocked down by the Israeli municipal crews in Jerusalem’s northeastern village of al-Issawiya at daybreak Tuesday under the unlicensed construction pretext.
Member of al-Issawiya Follow-Up Committee Mohamed abu al-Humus said Israeli army patrols and bulldozers rolled into the village and enforced a tough cordon around the targeted buildings before they embarked on the demolition process.
One of the demolished buildings is owned by the Palestinian citizen Ahmed Saleh Abu al-Humus and covers 150 square meters. Ten days earlier the house owner received a demolition notification.
“The demolition was carried out in spite of an earlier appeal leaving eight civilians mostly children without a roof over their heads” stated Abu Humus.
The second building has been under construction and covers an area of 100 square meters.
The activist added that the Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) stepped up demolitions in al-Issawiya among other Palestinian villages in Occupied Jerusalem in an attempt to blackmail the residents and gather sums of up to tens of thousands of dollars.
Since the start of 2017 at least 12 Palestinian homes and a number of commercial and agricultural structures were knocked down by the IOA. Demolition orders were also issued against 200 homes.
The Israeli municipality has often turned down Palestinians’ demands for construction licenses in Occupied Jerusalem where over 20000 Palestinian homes are threatened with demolition.
