Escorted by a large force of Israeli police the Israeli authorities’ bulldozers and vehicles raided on Tuesday Qalansuwa city in the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories and demolished 9 houses under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
A large group of Palestinian citizens crowded in an attempt to stop the demolition yet the Israeli police prevented them from approaching the area.
They called on the Arab MPs and all political forces to stand by the owners of the demolished houses adding that the situation is intolerable and may lead to dire consequences.
The Israeli police arrested a young man from Qalansuwa following the outbreak of confrontations between the police and the Palestinian citizens.
Gilad Erdan the Israeli Minister of Public Security praised the Israeli police forces for protecting the bulldozers and demolition vehicles in Qalansuwa.
Abdelbasset Salama mayor of Qalansuwa has declared that he will immediately submit his resignation following implementation of the demolition orders.
Hassouna Makhlouf owner of one of the demolished houses said that the Israeli police forcibly evicted them from their houses before they were razed to the ground.
Makhlouf added “We appealed to the courts to prevent the demolition. “We hold the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for this and call on the Qalansuwa mayor to submit his resignation after our houses were demolished” he continued.
Abdulraheem Ouda a resident of Qalansuwa said that a large force of the Israeli police and special forces (Alesam) and more than 20 bulldozers raided the city in an unprecedented brutality while the citizens were in their works.
Ouda added “Netanyahu wants to take revenge on us because of Amona settlement issue and we tell him that we will rebuild our houses and stay here.”
Yaser Makhlouf whose house was demolished along with other 4 houses owned by the same family said “My son was about to get married in this house. It costed him a lot of money.”
He pointed out that these retaliatory orders from the Israeli government incite violence and declare war against the Arab community.
Netanyahu had issued orders few weeks ago to escalate the demolitions in occupied Jerusalem and the 1948 Palestinian territories.
