On July 03, 2017 citizen Mohammad Fawaqa self-demolished his house in the village of Um Lysoon south of the city of Jerusalem following an order by the occupation municipality under the pretext of building without a permit and claiming that the land is classified as “green” where construction is prohibited. The two houses are reported adjacent to each other. The first one  (50m²) was built in 2011 and is inhabited by six members including four children where the second one (120m²) was built several months ago and is ready for moving in.

Fawaqa explained that the municipality forced him to execute the demolition order. Otherwise, they will demolish the house and impose an 80-thousand NIS fine on him as “demolition costs

He explained that the municipality refused to license the property since the area is classified as “green”.

It should be noted that Land Research Center documented 100 cases where owners were obliged to self-demolish their residences during 2010-2016. This left 633 people homeless as a result.

This case study is part of Kan'aan Project