Palestinian Family Forced to Demolish Own Home by Israeli Municipality

Palestinian Family Forced to Demolish Own Home by Israeli Municipality

Palestinian children search for toys in the remains of their home in Jinba after it was demolished by Israeli bulldozers on February 2, 2016. Hazem Bader/AFP

The Israeli municipality ordered a Palestinian family from the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabir to demolish their own home to avoid heavy fines.

WAFA News Agency said the family started to demolish their own home after they were forced to do so in order to avoid paying exorbitant costs if the Israeli municipality carries out the demolition.

Members of the al-Debs family said they were forced to demolish their own home after the Israeli municipality issued a demolition order against it under the pretext it was built without a permit and in order to avoid paying steep demolition costs to the Israeli municipality.

The building has been home to a five-member family.

Palestinians in Jerusalem say they are forced to build without a permit because getting a building permit is impossible as the right-wing mayor and city council attempt to keep the city’s Palestinian population at a bare minimum while multiplying its Jewish residents by approving the construction of thousands of new housing units in Jewish settlements.

Almost 75 percent of applications for a permit by the Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem are rejected by the Israeli municipality, according to rights groups.

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