Two Palestinian brothers from the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina embarked Monday on demolishing their own houses after being ordered to do so by the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem in order to avoid paying exorbitant costs if the municipality carries out the demolition, reported Wafa news agency.

The Israeli municipality ordered the demolition of the two houses, each covering an overall area of 65 square meters and house nine people, under the pretext that they were built without a permit.

Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem say they are forced to build without permit because the Israeli municipality rarely issues permits to the city’s Palestinian citizens as a way to reduce their number by forcing them to leave it and find accommodation and work elsewhere while building thousands of housing units in illegal settlements for its Jewish population.