On Thursday morning, Israeli military and police vehicles invaded Silwan town, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem and handed a demolition order to a Palestinian elder.
Media sources said the soldiers handed Yacoub Maragha, 71, an order to demolish his home within fifteen days.
The police claimed that a 100 square/meter home was built without a permit from the city council on land the man owns.
Many Palestinians in the occupied city resort to constructing their homes without permits due to Israel’s continued refusal to issue these permits, especially since expanding families find themselves living in small homes or apartments.
While Israel continues to build and expand its illegal colonies, Palestinian communities, towns, occupied Jerusalem, and various areas in the occupied West Bank, continue to be denied the right to build homes and property.
Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory.”
