Wednesday, Jul 12, 2017

Ramallah: Israeli occupation forces have demolished four more buildings in occupied East Jerusalem within two days, under the pretext that they did not have official building licenses.

Heavy military machines knocked down two houses and a commercial establishment in Jabal Al Mukaber and Silwan early Wednesday, without prior notice. Israeli soldiers forced residents out of their houses to carry out the demolitions, which have left at least 30 people homeless.

On Tuesday, at least four military bulldozers demolished a building under construction in Al Eisawiyah. Hanan Mahmoud, part owner of the building, said the occupation forces raided the area and sealed the entire location before demolishing the four-story building.

“On Tuesday, we were supposed to have a court hearing on licensing the building, but the occupation forces did not give us the chance,” she told Gulf News.

She said she and her family had submitted all the official documents necessary to obtain the building licenses, and they showed copies to the soldiers.

Mahmoud said the occupation forces raided the area at 4am and refused to postpone the demolition, giving the family no time to contact the court. She said the troops gave the owners, the contractor and the labourers no chance to take away their belongings from the site.

She added that her family started construction work on the building — which was to include four warehouses and six apartments — a year ago.

Mohammad Abu Al Homous, who heads the Follow-Up Committee in Al Eisawiyah, said Israel wanted to kick Palestinian residents out of the city and force them to move to the Palestinian cities of the West Bank or outside the municipal boundaries of occupied Jerusalem, revoking the permanent residency status of Jerusalemites.

Mousa Obaidat, owner of the Jabal Al Mukaber house that was knocked down on Wednesday, said he had never been sent a demolition order, although he found out that one of his neighbours had received the order on his behalf.

He explained that his house was built before 1967 and officially licenced, but he had to add a room to accommodate his increasing family. It was this new room that led to the demolition of the entire house.

In Silwan, Saleh Al Showaiki Saleh said he was shocked to see military bulldozers at the entrance of his house early on Wednesday morning.

He had already demolished additions to his house that he had made to accommodate his family members, and brought the house back to its earlier status, assuming there were no grounds for the Israeli occupation forces to demolish it.

The Israeli bulldozers also demolished a car washing station in Silwan, claiming it had not been licensed.

Israel captured the eastern part of Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast Six-Day War and wants the holy city as an undivided and eternal capital of Israel. Palestinians see occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of the future independent Palestinian state. This struggle is assumed to be the main reason for the breakdown of peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis in April 2014.

Since the Israeli occupation, Israel has largely banned Palestinians from building in occupied East Jerusalem. This leaves the Palestinians with no alternative but to build illegally. The occupation municipality in Jerusalem demolishes about 150 houses a year.

By Nasouh Nazzal Correspondent

Gulf News 2017. All rights reserved.