Family of 9 homeless after Israel forces them to demolish their Jerusalem home  

Israeli occupation authorities yesterday forced a Palestinian family to demolish their own home in occupied Jerusalem, under the pretext of that it did not have a building permit.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Centre (Silwan) said in a statement that the “Dweik family was forced to demolish their home with their own hands in Silwan’s neighbourhood of Al-Bustan under the pretext that they did not possess a building permit.”

The statement added that the Jerusalem municipality had warned the Palestinian family that they would pay the demolition costs to the municipality “if they did not act upon its request.”

The centre pointed out the demolition order was issued by the municipality “20 days ago.” All nine members of the family are now homeless.

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Palestinian families in Jerusalem are frequently forced to demolish their own homes or risk paying the occupation’s demolition fees.

Human rights groups say that Palestinians in Jerusalem face “great difficulties in obtaining building permits” as the costs are immense and the licences are rarely issued.

Some 1,900 Palestinian homes have been demolihed in Jersualem since Israel occupied the city in 1967, according to the official data by the Palestinian National Information Centre.