Today, Tuesday, the Israeli occupation authorities demolished three buildings containing 7 residential apartments in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in the town of Silwan, south of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.

32 Jerusalemites, including children and women, from the Ayed, Al-Ruwaidi and Abu Diab families, live in the demolished apartments.

The demolition operations in the neighborhood, which continued from the morning hours until the evening, included the bulldozing of concrete walls and streets leading to homes, in addition to uprooting trees.

Jerusalem affairs researcher Fakhri Abu Diab, one of the owners of the demolished homes, told WAFA that the Israeli occupation "demolished 3 residential buildings owned by my family, and the Al-Ruwaidi and Ayed families, and they include 7 apartments," explaining that what happened is an unprecedented escalation by demolishing 7 homes at once and displacing their residents.

He explained that he did not receive any prior notice of the demolition of his house or the house of his son Mohammed, noting that this is the second time that the occupation authorities have demolished his house since the beginning of this year, after he rebuilt it following the first demolition last February.

Abu Diab pointed out that after today's massacre of house demolitions, there are still 109 houses threatened with demolition in Al-Bustan neighborhood, inhabited by about 1,550 citizens who will become homeless if the policy of mass demolition continues, noting that "the Israeli occupation is targeting Al-Bustan neighborhood to establish a Judaization project on the ruins of our homes, in order to displace us from the city of Jerusalem and Judaize it."

In turn, the Jerusalem Governorate said in a statement that the occupation is exploiting the war of extermination in the Gaza Strip to implement Judaization plans in Jerusalem and the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, with the aim of changing the demographic composition and expanding settlements in the city, in addition to emptying the Al-Bustan neighborhood of its original residents, and imposing a fait accompli that threatens their existence and stability.

The Jerusalem Governorate called on the international community and human rights organizations to take urgent action to stop these crimes against the people of Jerusalem, protect their historical and human rights, and stand against the accelerating colonization that threatens their future in the Holy City.

More than 40,000 Jerusalemites have been affected by the demolitions carried out by the Israeli occupation authorities in the Holy City since the start of the comprehensive aggression against our people on October 7, 2023.

According to data issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA) in late October, the occupation authorities demolished 226 homes and facilities in Jerusalem, displacing 621 Palestinians and harming 40,767 others.

OCHA explains that among the demolished facilities were 125 inhabited homes, 28 uninhabited housing units, 39 facilities that help their owners provide a livelihood, and 34 agricultural facilities. As for the reason, most of the facilities were demolished under the pretext of building without obtaining a permit from the occupation authorities, amounting to 218 facilities.

According to OCHA, the demolitions were carried out in 24 towns and neighborhoods in Jerusalem, but were more concentrated in the town of Jabal al-Mukaber, targeting 37 homes and facilities, 21 of which were inhabited, then the town of Silwan, with 31 facilities, 21 of which were inhabited, then the towns of al-Walaja, Beit Hanina, al-Issawiya, and the rest of the towns and neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

These statistics do not include towns in the Jerusalem Governorate, such as Anata and Hizma, which witnessed demolitions, even though they are classified in Area C.

It is noteworthy that the town of Silwan is located one kilometer south of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and is inhabited by tens of thousands of Palestinians, who are threatened with forced displacement, as a result of the Israeli occupation targeting the town with Judaization and settlement.

The town, which dates back more than 5,000 years and was the first nucleus of the city of Jerusalem, and which is called the “Guardian of Jerusalem” because it forms a protective arc for the Old City along its southern borders, has been suffering since its occupation in 1967, and half of its neighborhoods are threatened with demolition, under the pretext that it was built on the ruins of the “City of King David,” and other pretexts used by the occupation to seize citizens’ homes, property, and lands for the benefit of the colonists.