A Palestinian man from Ras al-Amoud neighborhood in Silwan town, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, had to demolish his own home to avoid the excessively high fines and fees by the City Council, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan (Silwanic) has reported.
The Israeli army and the City Council in the occupied city have issued orders for the demolition of the home of the Palestinian, identified as Husam al-Abbassi.
Al-Abbassi told Silwanic that the army informed him that he must demolish his home within 14 days, or the city will destroy the property, and force him to pay more than 80.000 Shekels, in addition to other expenses, including the cost of the work, the and the workers.
“I have decided to demolish my home because the city said that if its workers destroy it, other homes will sustain damage during the work. I live on the third floor, there are others living in the building, including my brother and his children,” he told Silwanic, “I do not want others to be harmed – there are also elders living in the building.”
He also said that the home was only 65-70 square/meters, consisting of a bedroom room, one living room, a bathroom and a kitchen.
“I had to build, after saving money for several years; my daughter is only 3 years of age, and has no bedroom… she sleeps next to me and her mom; she has no space to play or to have her own bed…” al-Abbassi stated, “I built this home a year ago, with a total cost of 50.000 Shekels, and I wasn’t able yet to do more work inside. I am an employee with a small salary and no other financial resources.”
It is worth mentioning that, on Friday, al-‘Abbassi was detained interrogated for several hours, and received various threats by the army, including imprisoning him in addition to forcing him to pay much higher fines and fees.
