Israeli occupation authorities Tuesday morning tore down a Palestinian house in Wadi al-Hummus area on the edge of Sur Baher neighborhood, southeast of Jerusalem, according to security sources.
They confirmed that an Israeli military unit escorted two bulldozers into the area, located near Murad Tourist Resort, cordoned it off and demolished a three-story house belonging to Ayman al-Heih.
In July 2019, the occupation authorities demolished 16 Palestinian buildings, comprising 100 apartments, in the same area although the buildings were located in Area A, supposedly under the full jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority pursuant to the Oslo Accords.
Using the pretext of illegal building, Israel demolishes houses on a regular basis to restrict Palestinian expansion in occupied Jerusalem.
At the same time, the municipality and government build tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem for Jews with a goal to offset the demographic balance in favor of the Jewish settlers in the occupied city.
Although Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian Territory that has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, they are denied their citizenship rights and are instead classified only as “residents” whose permits can be revoked if they move away from the city for more than a few years.
They are also discriminated against in all aspects of life including housing, employment and services, and are unable to access services in the West Bank due to the construction of Israel’s separation wall.
According to a report by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, the Israeli High Court could be liable for war crimes for their policies that led to the dispossession of Palestinians from their properties in Area C of the West Bank.
The report, Fake Justice, shows that the court’s support of Israeli planning policy is tantamount to support for dispossession and forcible transfer of Palestinians, a war crime under international law.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency