Israeli bulldozers on Wednesday demolished a number of residential and commercial facilities in Occupied Jerusalem under the pretext of being unlicensed.
Rami Abu Tarboush told Quds Press that Israeli bulldozers accompanied by police forces and crews from the Jerusalem municipality demolished his family house which was built before 1964 in addition to four caravans and a stall owned by his family.
Abu Tarboush affirmed that he did not receive a prior warning and was surprised by the Israeli crews storming the area and ordering his family to evacuate the house.
The Land Research Center in Jerusalem said in statistics published recently that the Israeli occupation since 1967 has demolished 5000 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem.
The report revealed that Israel did not only destroy 39 villages in Jerusalem and displace about 198000 residents in 1948 but it also continued its demolition operations in 1967 under various pretexts.
According to the Center the Israeli occupation demolished 1706 homes between 2000 and 2017 displacing 9422 Palestinians 5443 of whom were children.
It pointed out that about 67500 Jerusalemites were expelled from Jerusalem before the 1948 war and 30000 after the war while 16000 Jews were settled in the empty Arab houses in the city between September 1948 and August 1949.
During the 1967 war the Center added about 70000 Jerusalemites were deported from Jerusalem including those who were outside the city and were prevented from returning after the war ended in addition to 50000 residents who left the city after the war for different reasons.
The report underlined that following the establishment of the apartheid wall in the West Bank the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem municipality has prevented Palestinian citizens from building hundreds of new homes knocked down dozens others and caused major damages to the environment.
The Land Research Center said that the Palestinians of Jerusalem need 2000 housing units annually noting that 380000 Jerusalemites who constitute half of the holy city’s population live in unauthorized homes because Israel prevents Jerusalem residents from using 88% of their lands.
