Israeli forces demolish Palestinian-owned home in occupied East Jerusalem

Israeli police arrived at the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem in the morning, closed off the roads around the Abu Jubneh family's home, and took extensive security measures.

Construction machinery belonging to the Israeli-run Jerusalem Municipality demolished three rooms in the Abu Jubneh family's home on the grounds that they were "built without a permit."

"I APPLIED MANY TIMES"

Palestinian Isha Abu Jubneh said they had applied to the municipality multiple times to obtain a permit for the three rooms in question.

Stating that the legal process for their permit applications was ongoing, Abu Jubneh explained that these hearings were postponed due to the war that broke out in the blockaded Gaza Strip on October 7.

Abu Jubneh stated that upon the warning from Israeli police that the house would be demolished, they applied to the Magistrate's Court through their lawyer, saying, "The Israeli police arrived in the morning without waiting for the court hearing. They forced us out. I wanted to take my wife's belongings from the room, but they did not allow it. A dog under the control of the police attacked me."

Reporting that the Israeli police threatened them in the morning by saying, "vacate the house in five minutes or we will demolish the house on top of you," Abu Jubneh added that their daughters had gone to school in the morning and had not yet seen that their home had been demolished.

"PERMIT IS A PRETEXT FOR DEMOLITION"

Israel has kept East Jerusalem and the West Bank under occupation since 1967 in violation of international law. Due to the construction restrictions Israel imposes on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, it is stated that 20,000 homes are under threat of demolition under the pretext of being unlicensed.

According to figures released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory, Israeli authorities had demolished 162 Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem as of September 26 on the grounds that they lacked permits.

Similarly, Israeli authorities demolished 143 Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem in 2022 and 181 in 2021 for the same reason.

Human rights organizations and UN agencies warn that Israel's forced eviction of Palestinians from their homes or the demolition of their structures in East Jerusalem is contrary to international law.

Especially during periods when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict intensifies, Israel's acceleration of the demolition of Palestinian-owned structures is viewed by rights organizations as a "method of collective punishment against Palestinians."

News Source:

Related News

Israel strikes Gaza again! Bomb falls near Al-Quds Hospital

What kind of place is Jerusalem? Here is what you need to know about Jerusalem

Statement on Jerusalem from İlber Ortaylı: “Since that day…”