The Israeli occupation authorities today demolished two Palestinian houses in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabbir, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Local sources confirmed that Israeli police forced their way into the Jabal al-Sal‘a area, cordoned two houses before a bulldozer demolished them, purportedly for being built without licenses.
#Video
The bulldozers of the occupation demolish two apartments belonging to Al Abbasi family in Al Sal’aa neighborhood in Jabal Al Mukabbir pic.twitter.com/6QJO6cLomF— Silwanic (@Silwanic1) March 24, 2021
Owners of the demolished houses were identified as Khaled Abbasi, and his brother, Munir.
The Abbasi brothers built their houses in 2016 and attempted to obtain the required construction licenses to no avail. They also managed to temporarily freeze the demolition orders against their structures.
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.
Dozens of Palestinians demonstrate in occupied Jerusalem against home demolitions of Palestinian homes in the Naqab (Negev) desert, south of 1948-occupied Palestine, today.#savesheikhjarrah pic.twitter.com/8FYr8rxjUX
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@P_ONLINE9) March 18, 2021
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.
(WAFA, PC, Social Media)
