The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) displaced a Palestinian family on Wednesday morning after demolishing its house in the east Jerusalem district of Issawiya at the pretext of unlicensed construction.
According to local sources Israeli bulldozers escorted by police forces stormed al-Madares neighborhood in Issawiya and reduced the house of Hatem Abu Rayala to rubble.
The house of Abu Rayala had been demolished several times before. The first demolition happened in 1999.
The homeowner tried to obtain a permit for his house many times but all to no avail and had to pay financial penalties multiple times to avoid imprisonment. However he had once served time in jail for failure to pay one of those fines.
The Jerusalemites have no choice but to build without licenses because there are no structural maps that respond to the natural increase in their numbers and for that reason they are denied house permits.
The IOA also imposes building restrictions on the Palestinian natives in Jerusalem and makes it hard for them to obtain construction licenses.
Israel’s systematic demolition of Palestinian homes in Occupied Jerusalem is believed to be aimed at psychologically destroying the Jerusalemite families in an attempt to force them to move from the holy city.
