Israel issues demolition order to 12 Arab properties in Jerusalem

Israel’s Civil Administration yesterday handed demolition notices to 12 Palestinian properties including a mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

A spokesman for the Jabal Al-Baba Bedouin compound told Quds Press that the Civil Administration’s personnel, accompanied by Israeli security forces, stormed the compound and delivered notices for demolition orders. The properties belong to the Mazara’a and Farahat families.

He stressed that the Israeli occupation “seeks to displace us from our territory in favour of the settlement projects belonging to the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim as part of the E1 project,” pointing to the demolition of four homes nearly two weeks ago.

The E1 project targets about 12 acres of land in Jerusalem and the West Bank as part of a plan to separate Jerusalem from the West Bank and Judaize the city.

Quds Press documented the demolition of 12 residential and commercial facilities in Jerusalem and its suburbs last January, in addition to the demolition of four other facilities this month.

The press agency noted that the Israeli municipality has increased the number of demolition orders it issues since the beginning of the year in the villages of Silwan and Issawiya, in East Jerusalem, as well as the village of Sur Baher, southeast of the city, under the pretext of the buildings being constructed without the necessary permits.