Israeli military bulldozers demolished, on Tuesday morning, a house belonging to the al-Absi family of the Silwan neighborhood, to the south of al-Aqsa Mosque, occupied East Jerusalem.According to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency, eyewitnesses said that Israeli forces again went ahead with demolition procedures under the pretext of building without permission.
Crews of municipality accompanied the soldiers and provided security to them while the demolition took place.
From January 20-23, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recorded the Israeli demolition of 42 Palestinian-owned structures in the Ramallah, Jerusalem, Jericho and Hebron governorates.
The planning policies applied by Israel in Area C discriminate against Palestinians, making it extremely difficult for them to obtain building permits. This is then used as a legal claim to their property.
In 2014, OCHA recorded 590 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C and East Jerusalem destroyed by Israeli authorities, displacing 1,177 people. It is the highest number recorded since the agency started monitoring displacement in 2008.
More than 400 rabbis from Israel, Britain and around the world, last week, called on Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes.
Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) submitted an open letter to the Israeli Prime Minister, claiming that his stance is not in line with “international law and Jewish tradition”.
Al Ray further reports that, on Tuesday, the Israeli occupation converted a set of Islamic historical estates west of al-Aqsa into public bathrooms for settlers and foreign tourists visiting the region.
Al-Aqsa Foundation said in a statement that the ancient monuments are located in Jisr em-al-Banat in Jeruslaem’s Mughrabi Gate neighborhood, about 50 meters away from the mosque.
Palestinians consider the Hait al-Buraq area an Islamic landmark. Jews call it the ‘Western’ or ‘Wailing Wall’ and perform prayers near it.
In its report, al-Aqsa Foundation said that the restrooms were part of a major Jewish synagogue being built in the area.
The report went on to note that the area in question contains dozens of historical buildings and Islamic landmarks, including some which date back to the Ottoman era, declaring that Israel was committing a ‘crime against civilization and history’ by implementing the conversion.
