‘Israeli’ Regime Forces Two Palestinian Brothers to Demolish their Own Houses in Occupied Al-Quds

By Staff, Agencies

‘Israeli’ occupation authorities forced two brothers to demolish their own houses in the occupied East al-Quds neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukaber.

Daoud and Mahmoud Shuqeirat self-demolished their houses, constructed in 2012 and each of which occupied 80 square meters, after removing their belongings purportedly for being built without a license from the ‘Israeli’ occupiers.

The Shuqeirat brothers have paid a building fine amounting to some $31,000 over the past years, but were eventually forced to carry out the demolition, resulting in the displacement of their families, including eight children.

The brothers said that Zionist occupation’s municipality didn’t grant them a building permit while they filed a petition against the demolition in the ‘Israeli’ occupation regime’s courts, which finally passed a ruling in favor of the forced demolition.

Under the court ruling, the brothers either had to self-demolish the structures or pay exorbitant fines if the ‘Israeli’ municipality of occupied al-Quds does it on its own.

The apartheid Tel Aviv regime has torn down 317 Palestinian houses across the occupied city of al-Quds since the start of 2021.

Using the pretext of illegal building, the Zionist regime demolishes houses on a regular basis to restrict Palestinian expansion in occupied al-Quds.

At the same time, the Zionist municipality and government build tens of thousands of settler units in illegal settlements in East al-Quds with the goal to offset the demographic balance in favor of the Zionist settlers in the occupied holy city.