OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) forced a Jerusalemite family to demolish its home in Silwan district, south of the Aqsa Mosque, on Saturday morning.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Occupied Jerusalem reported that Mohamed al-Abbasi was forced to knock down his house in Silwan’s Abu Tayeh neighborhood after recently receiving a demolition order from the municipality.
The house, built in 2011, was home to four people and measured 65 square meters.
The homeowner had to comply with the demolition measure to avoid paying the Israeli municipality exorbitant money in fines and demolition expenses.
The Israeli municipality continues to coerce Jerusalem residents into demolishing their own homes, while at the same time refusing to grant them building permits.
The rate at which Palestinian homes and structures are demolished in east Jerusalem has almost doubled since the start of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, human rights groups and monitoring organizations say.
The demolitions are ordered by the Israeli municipality, which claims that many Palestinian homes and structures are illegally built without permission.
All attempts by Palestinian families in east Jerusalem to apply for planning permission are rejected by the municipality. That means growing families say they have no choice but to build without permits and face the consequences, huge fines and demolition orders.
