Israeli occupation authorities on Wednesday forced a Palestinian family to self-demolish their own house in the East Jerusalem town of Silwan, citing unpermitted construction as a pretext.

Palestinian news agency WAFA said Abu Ramooz family proceeded today to demolish their privately-owned house, after embarking yesterday on emptying their home to avoid paying exorbitant fees if the Israeli municipality demolishes it.

The owner of the house, Faraj Abu Ramooz, told WAFA that the West Jerusalem Israeli municipality about a month and a half ago informed the family of its decision to demolish the house, which was built 18 months ago, under the pretext of lack of a building permit.

The owner said that the family spent approximately 70,000 shekels on lawyers’ fees to appeal the demolition decision, in addition to 50,000 shekels in fines, but all efforts were in vain.

The demolition of the house left the owner, along with his wife and eight children, including a newly-born infant, with no shelter.

Using the pretext of building without a permit, which is rarely granted to Palestinians in the occupied city, the Israeli municipality has condemned hundreds of Palestinian houses as part of a policy aimed to restrict Palestinian expansion and number in occupied Jerusalem.

At the same time, the municipality and government build tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem for Jews with the goal to offset the demographic balance in favor of the Jewish settlers in the occupied city.