The policy of demolition aims to empty Silwan of Palestinian residents due to its important location south of Al-Aqsa Mosque
Today, Wednesday, the Israeli Occupation Forces forced a Jerusalemite family to demolish three homes they owned in Wadi Qaddoum neighborhood in Silwan south of occupied Jerusalem.
Since the early morning hours, the Nassar family began demolishing three of their homes, implementing the decision of the occupation municipality, which forced them to either demolish the houses or bear the demolition fees.
Mazen Nassar, owner of one of the three houses, told the press: “My brother and nephew and I had to demolish our homes and displace our thirty-five families, in order to avoid being fined for demolition costs amounting to tens of thousands of Israeli shekels (1 Shekel = $0.32)”.
“The occupation authorities offered my father compensation in exchange for vacating the land, but he flatly refused, so they used flimsy pretexts to seise the land, which has an area of 2000m2.”
His brother, Mohamed Nassar, stated that the land on which these houses are built belongs to his father, who bought it 40 years ago. Over the past years, they have been subjected to harassment by the occupation authorities, who claim that the land was seised under the pretext of being public utilities.
He added that the occupation handed his family an eviction and demolish order, otherwise the family will bear the cost of the demolition, which amounts to 80,000 shekels.
The policy of demolition and evacuation of homes and seising other homes aims to empty Silwan of its original residents, given its important location south of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories had recently documented the Israeli army’s demolition of 698 buildings and the displacement of 949 Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, since the beginning of this year until October 18.
