© AFPIsraeli excavators demolish Palestinian-built houses
Village of Sair, West Bank • August 5, 2021
Village of Sair, West Bank • August 5, 2021
Bulldozers arrived early in the morning as security forces cordoned off the area around the Abdallah al-Shaikh health centre, which was treating people at the time, in the neighbourhood of Jabal al-Mukaber before the demolition was carried out.
Ghassan Jalajel, director of the centre, told Palestinian news agency Wafa the building was torn down without notice despite an appeal previously submitted to Israeli courts against the demolition order.
He said half of the centre, which serves 20,000 people living in the neighbourhood, was demolished.
Translation: Occupation forces demolish a health centre in Jabal al-Mukaber this morning
Elsewhere, Israeli bulldozers razed parts of a Palestinian home in the Beit Hanina neighbourhood in the northern part of Jerusalem. After the top section of the two-story building was destroyed, the demolition was halted when the family obtained a court order putting a stop to the demolition, according to Wafa.
Israeli authorities regularly carry out demolitions of Palestinian-owned homes and businesses in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, under the pretext that they are buildings without permits. Palestinian construction permits are rarely approved by Israeli authorities.
According to Peace Now, a settlements watchdog, in the nine years between 2009 and 2018, Israeli authorities issued a total of 98 construction permits for Palestinians, out of 4,422 permit requests that were filed.
More than 850 Palestinian homes and structures were destroyed by Israel in 2021, including 160 units in East Jerusalem, according to Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem.
The demolitions last year displaced around 900 people, including 463 minors.
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