Israeli authorities forced Palestinian man Fareed Jaber to totally knock down his house in the vicinity of the Bab al-Asbat entrance of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City on September 25, 2022. (Photo by the Palestinian Information Center)

Jerusalem, September 26 (RHC)-- Israeli authorities have forced a Palestinian man to demolish his house in occupied East al-Quds, displacing all eight members of his family.  The Palestinian Information Center, citing local sources, reported on Sunday that Fareed Jaber was left with no choice but to totally knock down his house in the vicinity of the Bab al-Asbat entrance of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City to avoid paying for heavy demolition costs and fines to the municipality.

Jaber had received a demolition notice from the Israeli municipality under the pretext that his house was built without a permit.  He was given the choice of either tearing down the house at his own expense or having the demolition carried out by Israeli authorities, which would have required him to pay large fines for the operation.  A family of eight was rendered homeless as a result of the Israeli move.

Israel routinely demolishes Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds, claiming the structures have been built without the so-called permits, which are almost impossible to obtain.  They also sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish their own houses or pay the demolition costs.

Israel has already occupied thousands of dunums of Palestinian agricultural land to construct and expand new illegal settler units in various areas in the West Bank.  The Tel Aviv regime also plans to force out Palestinian families from neighborhoods in East al-Quds in an attempt to replace them with settlers.

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 al-Quds.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The United Nations 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 state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.