The Israeli occupation authorities have decided to demolish one of the homes, despite the fact that it was erected 30 years ago, on the grounds that it lacks a building permit. Palestinians in the occupied city very seldom, if ever, receive permits, the Safa news agency reported on Sunday.
Such demolitions, in the words of Fakhri Abu Dyab, a member of the Silwan Neighborhood Defense Committee, are "part of Israeli policy aimed at curbing Palestinian expansion and progress in occupied Jerusalem." He emphasized that before posting the demolition orders on the walls of the targeted structures, municipality officials collected photographs and measurements of the dwellings and roads inside the Palestinian neighborhood.
Abu Dyab predicts that the incoming far-right Israeli coalition government will be much harsher than the current administration regarding the demolition of Palestinian homes and the Judaization of Jerusalem al-Quds.
The whole Al-Bustan neighborhood is subject to an Israeli demolition plan, and its case has been in Israeli courts. It lies 300 meters south of Al Aqsa Mosque and is part of the larger neighborhood of Silwan.
Commentators accuse Israel of using such house demolitions to further the ethnic cleansing of occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.