[Monday Morning, January 27, 2014] Israeli soldiers invaded Al-Isawiyya neighborhood and Beit Hanina town, in occupied Jerusalem, and demolished three Palestinian homes.Mohammad Abu al-Hummus, of the Follow-up Committee in al-Isawiyya, said that the soldiers demolished an under-construction building owned by Abdul-Hai Ahmad Dary. The demolished building is a 300 square/meter two-story home and a garage.
Clashes took place between local residents and the invading soldiers, who also fired concussion grenades at students heading to school in the area.
Local sources said that the soldiers surrounded the town and prevented the residents from entering or leaving it.
Soldiers also demolished a 70 square/meter home that belongs to resident Hussein Ali Nasser.
Nasser’s sister, Fatima Hussein told the Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA) that this is the second time the army has demolished her brother’s house, as it was destroyed nine years ago, under the guise of being built without a permit.
“My brother rebuilt it for his son”, she said, “To live in it after marriage…”.
The soldiers withdrew from al-Isawiyya after demolishing the two buildings.
Last week, soldiers invaded the al-Isawiyya, and photographed several recently built homes and buildings in the town, in preparation to demolish them.
Furthermore, soldiers invaded the al-Ashqariyya neighborhood, in Beit Hanina town, north of occupied East Jerusalem, and demolished a Palestinian house.
WAFA said that the property was inhabited by twelve members of two families who moved in after building it, two and a half years ago, and have been paying high fines, since then, for allegedly building it without a permit.
WAFA added that dozens of soldiers surrounded the property before demolishing it, and declared the area a closed military zone.
The Islamic Christian Committee for Defending Jerusalem strongly denounced the latest assaults, and said that they are part of ongoing violations against the Palestinians, their lands and property, in different parts of occupied Palestine, especially in occupied Jerusalem.
International Law expert, secretary-general of the Committee, Hanna Issa, said Israel is ongoing with its violations of International Humanitarian Law, and that the attack is a grievous violation of Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
“The basic laws of the International Criminal Law describe these attacks as war crimes”, Hanna stated, “Article Eight of this law considers the unjustified massive destruction and confiscation of property as a war crime”.
