On Thursday, Israeli occupation authorities forced a Palestinian resident to demolish a large section of his own home in the town of Silwan, located south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied capital, Jerusalem, in the West Bank.
Local sources reported that the occupation compelled Ammar Qara’in to carry out the self-demolition of a substantial part of his house in the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood of Silwan.
Israeli authorities routinely coerce Palestinian residents, particularly in occupied Jerusalem, into demolishing their homes under the pretext of lacking building permits.
Those who refuse face forced demolition by occupation bulldozers and are burdened with exorbitant fines.
The Israeli-run municipality in Jerusalem systematically denies Palestinians building permits and either demolishes their homes or forces them to do so.
These practices violate international law and fundamental human rights, including the right to housing, and form part of a broader strategy of forced displacement aimed at removing Palestinians from the city to expand Israeli colonies in and around Jerusalem.
In related news, Israeli forces delivered demolition orders today targeting several homes and structures in the town of Al-Eizariya, east of occupied Jerusalem.
According to a statement by the Jerusalem Governorate, Israeli forces stormed an area northeast of Al-Eizariya and handed demolition notices to five Palestinian homes and structures.
This follows a similar action just one day earlier, when the occupation issued demolition and evacuation orders for more than 13 residential, agricultural, and industrial structures in the Wadi al-Houz area of the same town.
On Wednesday, the Israeli occupation issued six tenders for the construction and expansion of colonial project, totaling around 4,000 units in the illegal colonies of “Ariel” in Salfit Governorate and “Ma’ale Adumim” in the Jerusalem Governorate.
The United Nations has called on Israel to reverse its decision to begin work on a colonialist project that would sever the West Bank and isolate it from occupied East Jerusalem.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stated on Thursday that the project “would end the prospects for a two-state solution.”
He added, “Settlements are illegal under international law… and further entrench the occupation.”
The UN’s warning comes amid escalating Israeli measures in and around Jerusalem, including home demolitions and land seizures, which form part of a broader strategy to consolidate control and fragment Palestinian territorial continuity.
Last Friday, Israeli occupation authorities compelled a Palestinian resident to carry out the demolition of his own home in the town of Sur Baher, located south of occupied East Jerusalem.
The wave of demolition orders is part of an intensified campaign in and around Jerusalem aimed at implementing the so-called “E1 colonial fabric” plan, a strategic colonialist project designed to sever the northern and southern West Bank and expand Israeli control over Palestinian land.
The plan constitutes a grave violation of international law and undermines the prospects of a contiguous Palestinian state.
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”.
