Staff from the West Jerusalem Israeli municipality today conducted measurements on the four-storey residential building at risk of imminent demolition in Wadi Qaddoum area in the Silwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.
The residents of the building received a week ago a notice from the municipality ordering them to evacuate the building in preparation to demolish it under the pretext of being built without a permit.
The demolition of the four-storey building, consisting of 12 apartments, will displace approximately 12 families, including children.
If the demolition goes ahead, 32 adults and 42 children will be forcibly evicted. Two of the households in the building are Palestine refugees, and another two would be displaced for the second time in two years, following previous demolitions.
As with most demolitions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, the pretext for the possible demolition in Wadi Qaddum is the lack of an Israeli building permit; however, such permits are virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain, stressed OCHA.
Eyad Abu Sbaih, who resides in an apartment in the targeted building, told WAFA they are gravely concerned and are living in a state of great tension, expressing fear that the municipality will demolish the building at any moment.
He stressed that since 2014 the families living in the building have been trying to obtain a building permit, but the occupation municipality refused to grant them any permits and has imposed over the past years fines that amounted to about nine hundred thousand shekels.
“I am here today together with my fellow colleagues from the European Union and other likeminded countries to express solidarity with the Palestinian families threatened of displacement from their own homes. The continued practice of demolitions and evictions in occupied East Jerusalem is in violation of international humanitarian law and must cease. Israel as the occupying power has the obligation to protect the population,” said Deputy European Union Representative Maria Velasco during a visit yesterday to Wadi Qaddoum along with Heads of Mission and representatives from the EU and like-minded countries.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)