Palestinian forced by Israel to demolish his Jerusalem home

Palestinian Ahmad Qara’in was forced to demolish his house in Silwan, south of occupied Jerusalem, yesterday, under the pretext of building without construction permit, the Palestinian Information Centre reported.

Jerusalemite sources reported that Qara’in demolished his house after the Israeli occupation’s court in Jerusalem issued a demolition order against the Wadi Hilweh neighbourhood home. had he not demolished the house himself, they said, the Israeli municipality would have charged him to have the building pulled down.

Some 181 Palestinian structures in occupied Jerusalem were demolished in the first half of this year, 40 of which were demolished by their owners following orders from the occupation authorities.

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A restrictive planning regime applied by Israeli authorities makes it almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits in Area C, impeding the development of adequate housing, infrastructure and livelihoods.

Only 21 of 1,485 applications from Palestinians for construction permits in Area C of the West Bank were approved by the Israeli Civil Administration in the West Bank between 2016 and 2018, figures revealed in response to a freedom of information request by human rights organisation Bimkom.