Israeli Forces Forced Awatif Mahmoud Al-Ghoul To Demolish Her Home In Occupied Jerusalem

Israeli authorities forced Palestinian woman Awatif Mahmoud al-Ghoul to demolish her own home in the al-Suweih neighbourhood of occupied Jerusalem, according to Wafa news agency citing the Jerusalem Governorate.

“Within minutes, the occupation authorities turned the "home of a lifetime" into ruins and rubble, and a commercial facility disappeared into thin air the moment the heavily armed occupation forces arrived at the site, holding in their hands one or more papers stamped with official seals and under the pretext Palestinians have memorized by heart: "on the grounds of lack of licensing”

Al-Jazeera Net

The Governorate said the forces ordered the demolition under the pretext of lacking a building permit, adding that she had no choice but to do so to avoid paying heavy fines and costs imposed by the municipality if the demolition were carried out using its machinery.

Al-Jazeera Net

Since the beginning of the year, Israeli authorities have demolished or forced the demolition of more than 200 homes and structures in Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Governorate said.

In East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces also used bulldozers to demolish UNRWA's headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah on Tuesday, drawing condemnation from UN Secretary-General actions described by UN News.

UN Secretary-General condemnation came through his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, who said the Sheikh Jarrah complex remains United Nations property and is inviolable and immune from interference.

UN News quoted the UN Secretary-General urging the Israeli government to immediately halt the demolition of the UNRWA complex in Sheikh Jarrah and to return and restore without delay this complex and the other UNRWA premises to the United Nations.

Anadolu Ajansi

UNRWA's Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini described the demolition as an 'unprecedented attack' against the UN, and warned that 'This should serve as a warning,' on X.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed 'indignation' at what UN News described as an escalation of tensions between Israeli authorities and UNRWA, with Ravina Shamdasani saying it adds to attacks on humanitarian organizations and UN actors trying to provide aid.

In Silwan, near the Old City, Le Monde with AFP reported that Israeli bulldozers began on Monday, December 22, to destroy a four-story building housing about a dozen Palestinian families on the grounds that it had been built without a permit.

“Israeli bulldozers began, on Monday, December 22, to destroy a building housing about a dozen Palestinian families in East Jerusalem on the grounds that it had been built without a permit”

Le Monde.fr

Eid Shawar, 38, said he was awakened by police who broke down his door to carry out the evictions, adding, 'We were not allowed to take our furniture,' and calling it 'This is a tragedy.'

In the southern occupied West Bank, Anadolu Ajansı reported that the Israeli army demolished a Palestinian home in the Hebron Governorate in the al-Dirat area east of Yatta town, displacing a family of 75.

Anadolu Ajansı also reported that since the outbreak of the war on the Gaza Strip on October 8, 2023, Israeli army and settlers escalated attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the killing of 1,155 Palestinians, about 11,750 others injured, and around 23,000 arrested, according to Palestinian figures.