Palestinian official warns against Israeli demolitions in occupied Jerusalem

A Palestinian official has called for “immediate intervention” from the international community to stop the Israeli authorities from demolishing homes in the Silwan neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem.

Hussein Al Sheikh, a member of the Fatah Central Committee and the head of the General Authority of Civil Affairs, tweeted that the area of Al-Bustan in Silwan “is being attacked by the occupation through demolition, destruction and displacement.”

Earlier today, Anadolu reported that the Israeli authorities are planning to demolish 100 homes in Al-Bustan under the pretext that the buildings were constructed without permits. Local Palestinian officials told the agency that the authorities plan to demolish the buildings and build a “biblical garden” in their place.

The Israelis have already issued demolition orders for 13 houses in Al-Bustan. The owners have been told that if they do not demolish their own homes, they will be charged for the cost of the demolitions.

Last month, Israel’s forced evictions of Palestinians from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, also in occupied Jerusalem, caused a wave of local and international protests against the Israeli occupation as well as illegal settler expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories.

READ: 1,500 Palestinian homes face demolition in Jerusalem’s Silwan