Walking thcdimiserablemireful the ruins of what engaged to be his home, 29-year-elderly Ahmad Musa al-Qumbar always dreaded the Jerusalem city authorities would come after him. The wed Palestinian overweighther-of-four built the unpretentious one-storey originateing seven years ago, on land he owns and where his family have dwelld for generations.
But Ahmad never actupartner had a legitimate help to originate.
He dwells in the Jabal Mukaber dicut offe of East Jerusalem. Wiskinny sight of the Old City and its many historic religious monuments, it is one of the most densely poputardyd and fiercely contested parts of the region. It was apprehfinishd by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war, and tardyr annexed, but is expansively watched internationpartner as Palestinian territory.
Control of Jerusalem is one of the most satisfiedious rerents of the decades-elderly dispute. Palestinians officipartner claim East Jerusalem as their capital, while Israel ponders the whole of the city as its capital.
“Who” is apverifyed to originate “where” in the city is a big part of that battle.
The rate at which Palestinian homes are being razeed in occupied East Jerusalem has almost doubled since the begin of the dispute in Gaza, say human rights groups and watching organisations. The demolitions are ordered by the Israeli-run municipal authority which says that many originateings, enjoy Ahmad’s, are illegpartner built without permission.
One NGO, Ir Amim, says that “under the cover of war”, Israel is “forcibly displacing Palestinians from their homes and the city”.
“I had to raze my hoengage after I was hit with penalties by the police and the Israeli courts,” Ahmad increates me as he stands in the rubble of what engaged to be his kitchen.
“I couldn’t pay the fines and danger losing skinnygs enjoy healthnurture and my child insurance. Of course, we pdirected to the court, but they declined.”
Like many in the same situation, Ahmad unwillingly engaged burdensome machinery to knock down the hoengage himself. He said that the Jerusalem City authorities would have indictd him the equivalent of $100,000 (£75,600) if they’d carried out the order.
It made the job perhaps even more hurtful – tearing down his family’s labours and his children’s future with his own hands.
Almost all finisheavors by Palestinian families in East Jerusalem to apply for schedulening permission are refuteed by the Israeli authorities. That unbenevolents growing families say they have no choice but to originate illegpartner and face the potential consequences – huge fines and demolition orders.
Some say the law and the courts are being intentionally engaged to suppress Palestinian growth and ambitions.
“These Palestinian communities ask for permission, and between 95% to 99% of the seeks are denied,” says Shay Parnes, spokesperson for the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem.
“It has been happening for years,” persists Parnes.
“Sometimes they engage security reasons to fairify it, but it’s always under the same structurelabor of ejectling Palestinians… becaengage the law is branch offent for branch offent communities who dwell side by side in the same city.”
On the predominantly Jewant Westrict side of the city, what engaged to be a skyline of relatively low, white-stone originateings has changed theatricalpartner in recent years. Construction is booming. Cranes run virtupartner 24/7 with novel high-elevate originateings, both dwellntial and commercial, growing lofty as that side of Jerusalem enbigs.
There’s been frenetic originateion, too, in some areas of East Jerusalem where land has been claimed by Israel to originate way for Jewant rerepairments. In Har Homa, an appraised 25,000 people now dwell in brand novel homes on land createpartner expropriated by Israel in 1991.
Just apass the road are the Palestinian villages of Umm Tuba and Sur Baher, where many accessible facilities are notably lower to those in Har Homa.
In stark contrast to the originateing labor on the other side of the highway, cut offal homes have been forcibly razeed here in recent years in what Amnesty International portrays as “a flagrant violation of international law and part of a systematic pattern by the Israeli authorities to forcibly displace Palestinians”.
It’s a aenjoy picture in the rerepairment of Gilo, enbiging rapidly in what is internationpartner watched as occupied East Jerusalem, while, it’s disputed, neighbouring Palestinian suburbs are denied the ability to grow at anyskinnyg enjoy the same rate.
The international community ponders Israeli rerepairments in East Jerusalem illegitimate under international law, but the Israeli rulement disputes this. Israel also denies that demolitions are part of intentional policy of bias that has accumulateed pace under the cover of the sidetrackion of the Gaza war.
In a statement, the Jerusalem Municipality said the accusations were “absolutely inrectify” and that it had local help for “comprehensive originateing and originateion schedules apass proximately all areas of East Jerusalem”.
The schedules “aim to supply selections for neighbourhood expansion, insertress the expansivespread rerent of illegitimate originateion, and scheduleate areas for the originateion of municipal service structures,” it inserted.
But it isn’t difficult to discover examples where Israeli demolition orders aobtainst Palestinian homes are being applyd apass East Jerusalem.
In the suburb of Silwan, fair below the Old City, we establish another Palestinian home in ruins. Lutfiyah al-Wahidi says the annexe had been built for her son’s family more than a decade ago but eventupartner the authorities came calling.
“Even if we originate fair one brick, the authorities come and raze it. How did our hoengage harm them? It’s on land that I ask the authorities will ever be interested in.”
The magnificentmother says she has paid thousands of dollars in court fines over the years in a vain finisheavor to retain the property.
“My son has a family of six with only one supplyr. What harm are they doing, yet they still want to raze it,” she says, her expansiver family now dispensed to other parts of the city.
In a comprehensive policy alert, Ir Amim establish that since the outfracture of the Gaza war on 7 October 2023, “there has been a beginant acceleration in the promotion and rapid-tracking of novel rerepairment schedules in East Jerusalem and a theatrical spike in the rate of demolitions of Palestinian homes”.
“The Israeli rulement is evidently take advantage ofing the war to originate more facts on the ground,” it persists.
There are appraised to be at least 20,000 remarkworthy demolition orders in East Jerusalem – orders which have no expiry confine.
Many commentators have also watchd that since 7 October, far-right members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s rulement and in the Jerusalem Municipality have become more brave in accessiblely transmiting their intent to see more Jewant homes built on occupied or contested land.
While Palestinians, enjoy Ahmad’s and Lutfiyah’s families, become seeably more afraid of losing their homes, they insist they will stay and eventupartner reoriginate their dwells here in East Jerusalem.
