Israeli occupation to demolish 450 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem

The Planning and Construction Committee of the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem called on Monday for the adoption of a plan to demolish 450 Palestinian houses.

Should this plan be carried out, thousands of Palestinians would be made homeless. Nevertheless, this call is a green light to start a mass campaign to demolish Palestinian homes in the holy city.

The Israeli occupation has demolished more than 25,000 Palestinian homes since 1967 when it occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

New data published by the Islamic-Christian Committee for the Defence of Jerusalem and Holy Places shows that Israel has recently demolished 40 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem. About 300 individuals, including 200 children, were made homeless as a result of the demolition.

Demolishing Palestinian homes is considered a longstanding part of an organised Israeli policy aimed at imposing defacto demographic changes that serve Israel’s existence in Jerusalem, mainly in the Old City and the areas around the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

To fulfil this goal, the Israeli occupation has resorting to putting immense pressure on Palestinian residents by refusing to issue them construction permits, imposing high taxes, demolishing homes, revoking IDs and building the Separation Wall.

Despite the grave Israeli measures taken against them, Palestinian residents still make up 36 per cent of Jerusalem’s population and this is expected to rise to 55 per cent by 2040. That causes fear to the Israeli occupation.

Statistics from the Islamic-Christian Committee also show that the Israeli occupation demolished 130 Palestinian homes in an attempt to reduce the rate of Palestinian residents to 12 per cent.

The Israeli government is also trying to annex Israeli settlements to the city.