Palestinian Family Forced to Demolish Own Home

The Palestinian Information Center, citing sources, reported on Saturday that Israeli authorities left Yehya Abu Rayyala, the father, no choice but to totally knock down his own home in its entirety in Issawiya, a district in East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Last year and following a municipal demolition order, he was forced to tear down part of his house.

The municipality had ordered Abu Rayyala to raze his building and if he refused to do as ordered, demolition crews from the municipality would do the job, and in that case, he would have to pay the sum of 150,000 shekels as demolition costs.

The municipality’s order to raze the building was issued under the pretext of lacking the necessary construction license, which is almost impossible to obtain.

Abu Rayyala was living with his wife and two kids in their house.

The Israeli regime routinely demolishes Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank, claiming that the structures have been built without the so-called permits. They also sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish their own houses or pay the costs of the demolition if they do not.

Since January 2020, the Israeli regime has forced dozens of Palestinians in the city to raze their homes amid hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In May 2020, the Israeli rights group B’Tselem reported that the Tel Aviv regime used other strategies to block Palestinian use of land in order to pave the way for new settlements.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.