On Monday, Israeli soldiers and City Council personnel invaded Silwan town, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied capital, Jerusalem, in the West Bank, and handed out demolition orders for 37 homes and commercial structures.
Media sources reported that the soldiers notified the town’s citizens of the demolition orders, and added that the demolitions are part of the municipality’s plans to remove Palestinian buildings to pave a road, dubbed the “American Road,” and infrastructure for the illegal colonizers.
The number of demolitions in the Jerusalem Governorate from the first of September until the eighth has now reached 307.
The Israeli occupation authorities generally justify the demolition of homes on the pretext of building without permits, despite the rarity of granting the necessary permits for building homes for Jerusalemites.
The “American Road” project, constructed over the ruins of Palestinian homes, demolished residences, and confiscated lands, stretches about 12 kilometers, devouring everything in its path to facilitate the lives of illegal colonizers and create segregated roads between the colonies.
While Israel continues to build and expand its illegal colonies, Palestinian communities and towns in occupied Jerusalem and various areas in the occupied West Bank continue to be denied the right to build homes and property under various allegations meant to prevent the expansion of Palestinian towns and neighborhoods.
All of 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, in addition to 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.”
