Today, the Jerusalem Municipality and Israeli forces demolished 7 residential units in East Jerusalem – 4 in Silwan and 3 in Beit Hanina.

In Silwan, a two floor 4-unit building belonging to the extended Jaafreh family was demolished.  The building was constructed 17 years ago on what is designated as green space – the stated rationale for denying the family a building permit.  Thirty family members were displaced, half under the age of 18.

Three units – two inhabited by the Siyam family and one by the Rajabi family – were destroyed in Beit Hanina.  Six members of the Siyam family were displaced, including three children under the age of 18.  An additional six members of the Rajabi family, including four under the age of 18 – one of whom is physically challenged – lost their home.

Today’s demolitions bring the annual total to 166, including 112 residential units, as compared to the year-end total of 74 in 2015. 

The pronounced acceleration of demolitions parallels the mounting wave of state sponsored, settler advanced evictions of Palestinians in the Old City and Historic Basin, More than 100 Palestinian families in the Historic Basin are at risk of eviction, most concentrated in Batan al-Hawa, Silwan, where the Ateret Cohanim settler organization is forwarding a systematic campaign to seize the entire neighbhorhood and forcibly remove an estimated 600 residents. 

Please see Ir Amim’s and Peace Now’s recently published joint report, Broken Trust, exploring the relationship between State authorities and settlers in accelerating private settlement in Batan al-Hawa.

The combination of mounting demolitions and evictions – particularly in the Historic Basin – reveal Israeli steps to consolidate control of this key point of contention between Israel and Palestine, pre-empting negotiations and further thwarting the viability of the two state solution.

Please send all inquiries to:

Betty Herschman

Director of International Relations & Advocacy

Ir Amim (City of Nations/City of Peoples)

betty@ir-amim.org.il

054-308-5096

www.ir-amim.org.il

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Twitter: @IrAmimAlerts