Lawyer Muhammad Al-Alyan: Intensifying campaigns against “unlicensed” construction, the goal is to force Jerusalemites to leave

Diana Marzi: Discrimination in planning leads to increased home demolitions and leaves Palestinian families homeless

Dr. Munir Nusseibeh: Applying Israeli law in Jerusalem is illegal because it is an occupied city according to international law

Rassem Obeidat: 350 demolitions in Jerusalem since October 7 until now, including 87 demolitions in Silwan

Suhail Khalil: Escalating demolition in Jerusalem reflects Israel’s insistence that the united city is its capital

Fakhri Abu Diab: The occupation demolished my home and made my family lose its past and future, and we became homeless

Civil Coalition: The policy of demolishing the homes of Jerusalemites is met with the legalization of settlements and the creation of new settlement outposts

The occupying state has exploited its criminal war that it has been waging on the Gaza Strip for eleven months and on many areas of the West Bank to escalate its violations, attacks and racist Judaization policies in Jerusalem, especially the policy of demolishing homes, commercial establishments and others, under the pretext of building without a permit, which has affected 187 residential and commercial establishments since October 7, 2023.

The policy of demolishing homes, shops and other facilities is ongoing and continuous and is considered an official policy implemented jointly by four official bodies in Israel. It aims to tighten the noose on Palestinians who are forced to build without obtaining the necessary permits, due to the obstacles imposed by the planning and building committees on their obtaining building permits for political settlement reasons, under the cover of the law, in addition to the exorbitant costs incurred by those who wish to obtain a permit, or who go to court in an attempt to prevent the implementation of a decision to demolish their home. In return for these restrictions and impossible conditions, the various arms of the occupation provide all the necessary facilities for the settlers to replace the city’s residents and rob them of their property.

More than 6 commercial facilities demolished in Wadi Al-Joz within a week

The Jerusalemite lawyer specializing in planning and construction issues at the Saint Yves Foundation, Muhammad Al-Aliyan, said that the occupation municipality in Jerusalem has intensified its campaigns against “unlicensed” construction since October 7, 2023, explaining that the municipality has launched a campaign to pursue what it describes as illegal construction in East Jerusalem, which has led to a significant increase in demolitions.

He stressed that the occupation municipality has doubled the number of demolitions in the recent period, as no less than 6 to 8 commercial establishments were demolished in the Wadi al-Joz area during the past week alone, noting that the occupation municipality uses methods of pressure and intimidation against Jerusalemite citizens, including threats of arrest in the event that demolition orders are not implemented.

Al-Alyan added: The Jerusalem court and municipality do not take into consideration the difficult living conditions facing Jerusalemites, especially in light of the recent war that left many of them without work or a source of income. He considered that the main goal of these campaigns is to displace Jerusalemites to the West Bank or outside the country, which leads to the withdrawal of their Jerusalemite IDs and their deportation.

Al-Alyan explained that all these measures come under the cover of the Planning and Building Law, which ultimately aims to empty East Jerusalem of its original inhabitants.

Demolitions under the umbrella of the Planning and Building Law

In turn, Diana Marzi, a field researcher at the Bimkom Planning and Human Rights Association, told “Ya”: Most of the demolition operations and orders in Jerusalem come under the umbrella of the Planning and Building Law.

She explained that this law has two arms; the first arm gives citizens the opportunity to build, develop and obtain basic services, while the other arm monitors construction and punishes anyone who builds without a license through notifications and demolition orders.

Marzi pointed out that what the Israeli state and municipality are doing in Jerusalem shows that they are relying only on the negative side of the law, without giving Jerusalemites a chance to regularize their legal status. Instead, most Palestinian buildings are classified as illegal, without providing real opportunities to regularize the situation and obtain security in housing and development.

She added: The last decade has witnessed a significant deterioration in the situation, as demolition rates have increased significantly, while opportunities for settlement and planning have decreased, stressing that there is clear injustice in the planning policies, which are implemented in a collective punitive manner against the Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, and also in areas classified as "C" in the West Bank.

Marzi stressed that the current racist atmosphere increases the threat to many innocent families, which will expose hundreds of children to becoming homeless.

Urban planning in Jerusalem seeks to colonize the city

Dr. Munir Nusseibeh, professor of international law at Al-Quds University, said that the city of Jerusalem is considered an occupied city according to international law, and its annexation to Israel is illegal, and the application of Israeli law in East Jerusalem is illegal, and therefore all measures taken by Israel in the city, from land planning to issuing building permits, are in violation of international law.

Nusseibeh pointed out that the urban planning in Jerusalem under Israeli regulations seeks to colonize the city, as it allows the construction of Israeli settlements and severely restricts the construction of Palestinian neighborhoods, which several international documents have considered part of the apartheid policy pursued by Israel.

He added that the Israeli occupation uses the demolition of homes as a punitive and collective method against the families of prisoners and martyrs in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is in violation of international human rights law, which prohibits demolition as a punitive method and collective punishment.

He also stressed that the demolition of homes leads to the forced displacement of residents, even within the city limits itself, which is considered a war crime under international humanitarian law.

Israel seeks 88% Jewish majority in Jerusalem

Jerusalemite writer Rasem Obeidat stressed that the house demolitions and the distribution of demolition orders in the city of Jerusalem come within the framework of the policy of ethnic displacement that aims to change the geographical and demographic reality in favor of the settlers, explaining that Israel seeks to achieve a Jewish majority of up to 88% in the city, which supports its claims that "united Jerusalem" is the capital of the occupying state.

“Israel is working to reduce the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem, as increasing the number of Palestinian residents in the city contradicts its goal of presenting Jerusalem as a Jewish city,” Obeidat added, noting that this policy is not limited to demolitions only, but includes ethnic displacement, as is happening in the neighborhoods of Silwan, Batn al-Hawa, Wadi al-Rababa, Wadi Yasul, and others.

He stated that the city of Jerusalem has witnessed 350 demolitions since October 7 until today, including 87 demolitions in Silwan alone, stressing that these measures aim to empty the city of its Palestinian residents and replace them with settlers, within the framework of an Israeli plan that aims to Judaize the city completely.

a form of forced displacement

In turn, political analyst Suhail Khaliliya told “Y”: The escalation of demolitions in Jerusalem reflects Israel’s insistence on its position that a united Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel, which leads to an exacerbation of the difficulty of life for the Palestinian Jerusalemites, pointing out that what is happening is a form of forced displacement, as Israel continues to destroy homes, in addition to imposing strict restrictions on the provision of services and the granting of building permits, while systematically fining Palestinians.

Khaliliya explained that these measures aim to change the demographic composition of Jerusalem and its surroundings, stressing that Israel is preparing to announce the "Greater Jerusalem" project by annexing the settlement blocs surrounding the city to the authority of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem, stressing that the demolitions represent a step towards imposing forced displacement.

Khalil expressed his regret that the people of Jerusalem do not receive sufficient support from Arab and Islamic countries to strengthen their steadfastness in the city, while the settlers receive full support.

Expulsion of Palestinian residents from Al-Bustan neighborhood to replace settlers

Jerusalemite Fakhri Abu Diab, one of those affected by the policy of house demolitions in Jerusalem, said that the occupation municipality demolished his house, which caused him and his family to lose their past and future, and they became homeless. He explained that the demolition process caused them to lose their family and social security, and deprived them of family gatherings, especially on religious occasions such as the month of Ramadan.

Abu Diab added: “They destroyed the childhood of my children and grandchildren, and erased my memories and my childhood memories, even the smell of my mother that I used to sense in the house where I was born. After they displaced us, only my wife and I returned to live next to the house in a small caravan that lacks the necessities of life, and yet they are pursuing me with a new demolition order.”

Abu Diab pointed out that the real goal behind these practices is to expel the Palestinian residents from Al-Bustan neighborhood and replace it with settlers.

Unprecedented escalation in the occupation's policies and violations

In turn, the Civil Coalition for Defending Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem said in a report on home demolitions from October 7, 2023 to June 2024: “The occupation demolished 187 facilities from October 7 to the middle of this year, including 133 residential homes, 41 of which were self-demolished, and 54 commercial and agricultural facilities, thus displacing more than 500 Palestinian Jerusalemites.”

The coalition stressed that the city of Jerusalem has witnessed an unprecedented escalation in the occupation’s policies and violations in light of the ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip for more than ten months, as the occupation government took advantage of the international community’s distraction and focus on what is happening in the Gaza Strip, and escalated its policies, which included closing the city through military checkpoints and gates, expanding settlements, demolishing homes, and restricting freedom of movement and entry to the city of Jerusalem in general and Christian and Islamic religious sites in particular.

The coalition considered the policy of demolishing homes in Jerusalem as one of the old policies pursued by successive Israeli governments to empty the city of Jerusalem of its original inhabitants, with the aim of achieving the geographical and demographic equation in favor of the colonizer on the ground, pointing out that during the last three years, the demolition rate has recorded the highest rates, as the Israeli government has escalated and is escalating its use, under the slogan of imposing full sovereignty over Jerusalem, and annexing it in its western and eastern parts under what is called Greater Jerusalem.

The coalition explained that several parties issue demolition decisions against the Jerusalemite community. Through reports that monitored the registration of cases and their different areas, it became clear that there are orders issued by 4 official departments in the government, which are the Ministry of Interior, the Municipality, the Civil Administration, and the Nature Authority.

He said, "It pushes many Jerusalemites to carry out self-demolition, as Jerusalemites avoid paying the cost of demolition, which includes bulldozers and hundreds of police officers present at the site who work to close the entire area, as the demolition cost bill reaches thousands of dollars, which forces them to demolish their homes themselves by force. This is in addition to the fine for building without a permit."

The coalition report pointed to the restrictions imposed on obtaining building permits, including the cost of building a single house within the standards imposed by the municipality on residents, from issuing a permit to construction, estimated at millions of shekels, which constitutes a burden on Jerusalemites, about 78% of Jerusalemite families are below the poverty line. In addition to the long time required to issue permits, which require many years of very complicated procedures that drain Jerusalemites, pushing them towards building without a permit.

The coalition said that while Israeli institutions are escalating the policy of demolishing the homes of Jerusalemites, they are working to legitimize settlement and create new settlement outposts with huge budgets and replace the indigenous population with settlers. In order for the Jerusalemite not to lose his land, he is forced to build on it to protect it from seizure and control.

The coalition pointed out that the people of Jerusalem pay huge amounts of taxes imposed by the occupation municipality under the item of services, estimated at billions annually, while the occupation government intentionally dries up and rations services in the Arab neighborhoods, so that the conditions of the neighborhoods worsen, and thus under the pretext that they are disorganized and random in order to justify the policy of demolition.

The coalition stressed that the estimates reflect a real threat to the existence of Jerusalemites, calling on the international community and its institutions to intervene urgently to stop the violations taking place against Jerusalemites in occupied Jerusalem.