The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) forced on Saturday morning a Palestinian family to demolish its own house in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan at the pretext of unlicensed construction.
The homeowner Hussein Qanbar said that the Israeli municipality gave him a notice on January 10 ordering him to tear down his house within 21 days or else he would have to pay 80000 shekels in demolition expenses and fines.
A family of seven was living in that house.
The Israeli municipality often forces Jerusalemite citizens to carry out demolition orders against their homes at their own expense or face heavy demolition expenses and fines to be imposed on them if they refuse to comply.
The Palestinians in the occupied territories have no choice but to build on their own lands without licenses because there are no structural maps that respond to the natural increase in their numbers.
The IOA also imposes building restrictions on them and makes it hard for them to obtain construction permits.
