Occupied Jerusalem (The Inside Palestine) – The Israeli occupation has knocked down 34 Palestinian properties, including 17 demolished by their owners to avoid having to pay hefty fines, in occupied Jerusalem over the past month, a Palestinian information centre has found.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Centre explained that the Israeli occupation authorities demolished 15 Palestinian homes, 11 commercial structures, two rooms, a health centre, a graveyard, and two agricultural facilities, in addition to razing swathes of farmland and fences.
The Israeli occupation authorities justified the demolitions by claiming that these properties were built without a permit.
Last month, the Israeli occupation authorities issued an eviction order against a plot of land owned by the Salhiya family in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, demolishing two houses and five commercial facilities.
On 17 January, Israeli occupation forces broke into the Salhiya land to evict it, prompting the homeowner to threaten to set off gas canisters from the roof of the building, rather than let the Israeli occupation authorities force the family out.
Israeli occupation troops, therefore, demolished the commercial structures and razed the land before withdrawing from the area.
Two days later, Israeli occupation forces raided the land at dawn and violently detained and assaulted family members, before emptying the houses and demolishing them.
Last month, the Israeli occupation authorities ordered the demolition of a mosque in Al-Issawiya town, which was built a few months ago.
An Israeli court froze the demolition order against the mosque until mid-February after local residents filed an appeal against it.
The Israeli municipality of Jerusalem filed a petition to demolish the dome and one of the storeys of another mosque in Beit Safsafa.
Source: ALRAY
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