Israel demolishes house of disabled Palestinian

Israeli occupation forces demolished the house of disabled Palestinian Hatim Hussein Abu Rayala in the Issawiya neighbourhood in the northeast of occupied Jerusalem, Quds Press reported yesterday.

Occupation forces raided the Palestinian neighbourhood along with the staff of the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem, surrounded the house and demolished it under the pretext that it was built without the nearly impossible to obtain building licenses.

Quds Press said that this was the fourth time Abu Rayala’s house has been demolished, other news sites reported it was the sixth such demolition.

For years, disabled, wheelchair-bound Palestinian, Hatem Abu Riyala has tried to get a permit for his now destroyed home in Issawiya, East Jerusalem. His home demolished several times.

A grim reminder of injustice & Israeli occupation over Palestinians pic.twitter.com/6s9nVP4XCe

— Joseph Willits (@josephwillits) March 1, 2021

The demolition came one week after occupation forces demolished a two-story house which included four apartments, leaving 17 people homeless.

Israeli forces demolish Palestinian homes in Jerusalem on 1 March 2021 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

A woman reacts as Israeli-run Jerusalem Municipality team along with Israeli soldiers and bulldozers demolish the house owned by a disabled Palestinian Hatim Abu Rayala, near the al-Issawiya neighborhood claiming that it was unlicensed, in East Jerusalem on 1 March 2021. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency]

Israeli-run Jerusalem Municipality team along with Israeli soldiers and bulldozers demolish the house owned by a disabled Palestinian Hatim Abu Rayala (R), near the al-Issawiya neighborhood claiming that it was unlicensed, in East Jerusalem on 1 March 2021. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency]

The house, which is located at the entrance of Issawiya, included the apartment of the chief guard of Al-Aqsa Mosque Fadi Aliyan.

Israel ‘demolished 89 Palestinian-owned structures in two weeks,’ says UN