Dozens of Israeli soldiers and police officers, accompanied with personnel of the Jerusalem City Council and the Israel Antiquities Authority, invaded on Tuesday morning the town of Silwan, in occupied Jerusalem, and demolished a playground, a room and several walls.The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan (Silwanic) said the soldiers invaded the al-‘Abbasiyya neighborhood in the town, and surrounded a land owned by Khaled az-Zeer, before demolishing a recently constructed playground for children, including swings and slides.
Az-Zeer built the recreational area for children, and their families, several months ago, and said he never received any warnings or notices from the City Council.
‘They just drove in, and demolished everything,’ he told Silwanic, ‘they also bulldozed the grounds, cut and uprooted trees, demolished walls, and demolished a 12 square/meter storage room.’
He told Silwanic that the soldiers forcibly removed him from his property, and assaulted one of his relatives, identified as Jihad az-Zeer.
The soldiers also removed a fence, surrounding his property, and illegally confiscated 14 Dunams of his lands to use them as part of the “National Gardens” project.
In addition, resident Mohammad Samrein said the soldiers surrounded his home in the al-‘Abbasiyya neighborhood in Silwan, and bulldozed a farmland without any prior notice or warning.
Samrein said his family transformed the land from a garbage dumpster into a fertile agricultural area, and added that the soldiers also forced him to remove a stable for horses.
Silwanic said the soldiers assaulted a child, identified as Adam Samrein, only 12 years of age, causing various cuts and bruises.
