Middle East Monitor / February 1, 2022
Israeli occupation authorities have forced two Palestinian brothers to demolish their own homes in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Jabal al-Mukaber, rendering 13 people including nine small children homeless in the middle of winter, Anadolu reported.
The agency quoted the Wadi Hilweh Information Centre as saying that Daoud and Mahmoud Shuqeirat had to demolish their houses, which they had built in 2012 under the pretext that they were built without planning licences.
The Shuqeirat brothers paid fines of 100,000 shekel (some $31,000) over the years, but were eventually forced to carry out the demolition, resulting in the displacement of their families.
Israeli forces routinely carry out demolitions of Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem.
At least one-third of all Palestinian homes in Jerusalem lack building permits, placing some 100,000 Palestinians at risk of forced displacement. In 2014 Israel issued only one such permit to Palestinians and none the following year.
According to the Palestinian National Information Center, Israel has forced Palestinians living in East Jerusalem to demolish more than 1,900 homes since it occupied the city in 1967.
