Municipal workers demolished seven homes in occupied east Jerusalem’s Silwan neighbourhood on Tuesday, Palestinian residents and the municipality said, after an Israeli court called their construction illegal.
“This morning the Jerusalem Municipality, with a security escort from the Israel police, began its enforcement against illegal buildings in the Al-Bustan neighbourhood in Silwan,” Jerusalem’s Israeli-controlled city hall said in a statement.
Activist Fakhri Abu Diab, one of those affected by the demolition, confirmed that “at least seven homes have been demolished, and the operation is ongoing”.
He said that both houses and apartments were affected.
“They demolished my home, which I had renovated after it was previously demolished earlier this year, as well as my son’s house, Haitham Ayed’s family home, and four homes belonging to the Al-Ruwaidi family,” Abu Diab told AFP.
He said around “40 people, including children, were affected by the demolitions in the neighbourhood, leaving them homeless”.
An AFP photographer saw at least four bulldozers operating on Tuesday at demolition sites in the neighbourhood under tight Israeli police supervision.
In a statement, Jerusalem city hall pointed to court orders that call for the demolition of the buildings due to zoning laws that make them illegal.
However, Palestinian residents and activists accuse the municipality of concealing its true intentions.
“The buildings, like most of the buildings in the neighbourhood, are located on an area that is a green designation, that is, an open public area and where there is no possibility for zoning,” the municipality said, adding that the area would become a green zone instead.
‘Reduce Arab percentage’
Israeli rights group Ir Amim argued that the true aim of the demolitions is to connect Israeli settler pockets implanted in Palestinian areas to west Jerusalem.
The non-profit organisation said in a statement that demolition, “encouraged by Israel’s right-wing government”, is expected to affect “115 homes, housing around 1,500 residents” in the neighbourhood.
“The demolition of Al-Bustan and the displacement of its residents is an integral part of settlement efforts aimed at Judaising Silwan and transforming the area into a public park, facilitating connections between isolated settler communities in Silwan and linking them with West Jerusalem,” Ir Amim said.
It but did not specify the number of homes affected on Tuesday, as “the demolition is ongoing”.
Abu Diab echoed Ir Amim, saying the true aim of the demolitions was “to reduce the percentage of Arabs and alter the demographic composition of Jerusalem in favour of (Israeli) settlers”, connecting them to west Jerusalem.
Israel “is above international law, has escaped accountability, and is exploiting global focus on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and the US elections”, he said.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognised by the international community.
Some 230,000 Israeli settlers live in east Jerusalem, according to the United Nations. Another 3,000 live in Palestinian neighbourhoods within east Jerusalem’s boundaries, according to Israeli rights organisation Peace Now.
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