Israeli Authorities Demolish Fakhri Abu Diab’s Home in East Jerusalem’s Al-Bustan

Israeli authorities demolished the home of Fakhri Abu Diab in occupied East Jerusalem’s al-Bustan neighbourhood in 2024, as part of plans to expand Israeli settler projects and biblical-themed parks near Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Abu Diab, a Palestinian father of five and long-time anti-occupation activist, said, “I remember as a child going out with my mother to tend the land, then coming back to this spot to share a cup of tea,” while standing amid the shattered remains of what was once his family home.

- IMEMC News

Middle East Eye reported that al-Bustan is one of the three main sections of Silwan, a Palestinian district bordering the southern walls of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, and that demolitions and displacement efforts have intensified since the genocide in Gaza began in October 2023.

The same report said an estimated 20,000 Palestinian-owned homes are under demolition orders across the city, with residents fearing entire Palestinian communities could disappear in Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah, and Ras al-Amoud.

It also cited Ziad Ibhais, a researcher specialising in Jerusalem affairs, saying Israeli authorities demolished no more than 25 homes in Silwan between 2006 and 2023, and that the pace rose sharply after October 2023.

WAFA said Israeli occupation authorities ordered the halt of construction of commercial warehouses at the entrance to Beit Rima, northwest of Ramallah, and also decided to demolish a residential building in the Wadi Qaddum neighborhood in Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

WAFA reported that the occupation courts refused to postpone or freeze the demolition and gave residents until December 7 to proceed with the demolition, after families received a demolition order in June and two families were to be displaced for the second time in two years.

African Manager

WAFA described Silwan as having a population of about 33,000 Palestinians and said it is located outside the walls of the Old City and barely 5 km from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem.

African Manager said Israeli bulldozers demolished a four-story residential building in East Jerusalem on Monday, displacing dozens of Palestinians, and quoted a victim saying, “They kicked in the door while we were sleeping and told us that we could only change clothes and take the papers and essential documents.”

African Manager added that the victim said his seven-person family would have to sleep in their car, and it said the destruction fits into a systematic policy aimed at forcibly moving Palestinian residents and emptying the city of its original inhabitants.

WAFA said Israel’s broadly practiced policy of demolishing homes and destroying other property targets entire families and described such demolitions as illegal collective punishment and a violation of international human rights law.

It reported that Silwan has long been the target of Israeli settler organizations and that, in some cases, Palestinian residents have been forced to share homes with settlers, with some families living in Silwan for more than 50 years since they were displaced from the Old City in the 1960s.

WAFA also said Silwan has been targeted by repeated colonial activities by the Israeli government and settler organizations due to its strategic location near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, including archaeological excavations.

WAFA later reported that Israeli occupation forces completed the demolition of the ground floor of a residential building in Silwan on Monday, in the Wadi Qaddum area, after having demolished it at the end of last year.

In the same WAFA update, the Jerusalem Governorate stated that the occupation municipality’s crews completed the demolition of the ground floor of the residential building in the Wadi Qaddum area of Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.