Israeli demolition in E al-Quds leaves 35 Palestinians homeless

The Israeli regime tears down a residential building in the occupied East al-Quds, leaving 35 Palestinians, most of them children, homeless.

“Municipality personnel came at 9:00 a.m., broke the doors, expelled us and didn’t let us take any belongings,” said Faris Rajabi, 35, who used to live in the building, AFP reported.

The destruction of the three-story structure in the East al-Quds’ neighborhood of Silwan took place on Monday, with the regime accusing the owners of lacking “building permits.”

According to a United Nations study, such permits are “virtually impossible” to obtain.

Some owners prefer to raze their homes themselves to avoid being charged thousands of shekels for the demolition process.

The Israeli regime occupied the West Bank, including the western part of the holy city of al-Quds, in 1967. It later annexed East al-Quds, which Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.

Between 600,000 and 750,000 Israelis occupy over 250 illegal settlements that have been built across the West Bank since the 1967 occupation.

‘Ethnic cleansing’

The demolition was “political, not legal,” said Rajabi, adding that “they anyway don’t give us permits, and this is a policy of dispossession and ethnic cleansing.”

Rajabi’s “family had [uselessly] gone to great lengths and paid over $100,000 in fines and fees in order to settle the issue in the courts,” the agency wrote.

Five Palestinians, including a journalist, were, meanwhile, beaten by the Israeli police at the site of the demolition, the Palestinian Red Cross reported, adding that one of the Palestinians had been hospitalized.

According to the UN, nearly 40 structures have been razed in East al-Quds so far this year.

‘120 Palestinians injured in Israeli assaults’

Separately, the Palestinian Information Center news website reported that at least 120 Palestinians had been injured in Israeli assaults throughout the occupied territory.

As many as 92 Palestinians were injured in the city of Qalqilia in the northern West Bank during clashes with the Israeli forces, who had just closed down the main gate leading to the nearby town of Azzum.

“At least five live shot injuries were reported during the clashes,” the report said.

The forces were later joined by a group of illegal settlers, who gathered at the entrance and began to attack the local Palestinians. The settlers “severely beat” the Palestinian journalists, who were covering the clashes.

Nablus, another northern West Bank city, also witnessed an assault by the Israeli forces, who were providing protection for buses that were carrying dozens of settlers.

“The Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Nablus affirmed that a young man suffered live shot injuries in the abdomen, while seven others were injured with rubber bullets, and 13 suffered teargas inhalation,” the website noted.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk