Wednesday , January 08^th 2020 , the Israeli occupation forced two Jerusalemites to demolish their own houses , on the pretext of building without permits form the Israeli occupation government.

The two houses are in Jabal Al-Mukabir area south Jerusalem , and belong to:

One of the victims , Sayyel Ja’abis told LRC the following:

“In 2015 , I  built my family home on a plot that belongs to my father , the house consists of two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom and I live in it with my family. Unfortunately, I had to build the house without licenses, because as a Palestinian it is impossible to obtain a building license from the occupation municipality to build a house.

After finishing the construction of the house , and moving in , the occupation’s municipality issued a demolition order on the house, and since then we have been living under demolition threats. Consequently, I decided to demolish the house on my own, before the occupation implement the operation and force me to pay the demolition costs , about 10 thousands of Shekels.”

Now we have nowhere to go after we were forced to demolish our own home, the only thing we can do  is to set a tent on the plot of the house , and live in it until I find another home for house for my family.

The town of Jabal Al-Mukabbir consists of tens of buildings that are threatened of demolition for licensing issues, the occupation authorities are refusing to make an outline for the area claiming that it is an open natural area . the area is also close to the Annexation & Expansion wall , which makes it impossible to get construction licenses from the occupation authorities.

Self-Demolition is a Crime against Humanity:

This kind of demolition is mainly imposed on Palestinians in Jerusalem in efforts to displace them and Judaize the city.

The Israeli occupation always justifies that type of demolition, which is a blatant contravention of the right to residence and a crime against humanity, on the pretext of unlicensed construction.

[If your house has been built without a building permit, then it is legal and you have to destroy it and remove the wreckage as soon as possible. You also have to take pictures of the destroyed structure and send them to the Inspection Department of the Planning and Construction Committee in the occupying municipality to verify the act. There is a fixed date regarding when you have to carry out the demolition operation and this is a red line you cannot cross. There is a second date set by the municipality court of local affairs to check if you have abided by the demolition order or not. In case you do not comply, the municipality will demolish your residence at your expense. If you cannot pay, you will be jailed, so the lesser of two evils becomes the self-demolition choice.]

Protecting marginalized communities in Jerusalem through legal support and advocacy

This report was prepared with EU funding, the contents of this document do not reflect positions of the European Union