Once again, Israel’s aggressive actions toward the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem have reared their ugly head during Ramadan, as has been the case in previous years.

Recently, Israeli police demolished three houses in occupied East Jerusalem, displacing 18 Palestinians. To make matters worse, Israeli police on Wednesday conducted a pre-dawn raid on Al-Aqsa, a holy site and a flashpoint of tension in Jerusalem. They proceeded to attack Muslim worshippers who were praying at the time. In addition, hundreds of individuals were arrested due to the raid.

The ongoing targeting of Palestinians in East Jerusalem by Israeli authorities is deeply concerning and violates the fundamental human rights of the Palestinian population. Moreover, these actions exacerbate high tensions in the region and cause further harm to a vulnerable community.

Recently, under the pretext of construction without a permit, municipal crews and demolition machinery protected by at least two dozen police members arrived at the homes of the Tota’ah family in the Wadi el-Joz neighborhood and demolished the three houses which were built in 2000.

One family member said they’ve tried obtaining a building permit from the relevant authorities over the years. Still, their applications were repeatedly denied, and that the excuse was the plot of land was designated as a green area.

The ruined homes stood in the valley between Jerusalem’s Old City and the Mount of Olives. Besides, Israeli soldiers, several army vehicles, and bulldozers invaded Jabal Al-Mokabber in occupied Jerusalem last month. They demolished the 140 square meter home of Adham Bashir, leading to protests and injuries of at least 30 Palestinians.

The Israeli army and the city council in occupied Jerusalem claimed the home was built without a permit.

Earlier on Jan. 21, a Palestinian resident of occupied East Jerusalem started to tear down his house under pressure from the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem to avoid paying astronomical costs and fines, according to local sources.

Mohammad Hussein Qanbar hired a bulldozer to demolish his 120-square-meter house in the Ras al-Amoud neighborhood of East Jerusalem after he received a demolition order from the Israeli municipality under the pretext of construction without a permit. Seven people lived in the house who have now become homeless.

Following the receipt of demolition orders, many Palestinians prefer to tear down their homes on their own to avoid financial penalties and imprisonment and reduce damage to adjacent structures and personal belongings.

After Jerusalem Municipality, Ministry of Interior and Civil Administration orders, 60 structures belonging to Palestinians were demolished throughout January 2023 in East Jerusalem and adjacent areas lying within the al-Quds District of the Palestinian Authority, according to Israeli watchdog B’Tselem.

The destroyed structures included 15 homes, of which their owners demolished eight upon the Israeli authority’s instructions. 55 Palestinians, including 24 minors, were displaced as a result.

In 2022, the proportion of structures demolished or sealed off by their owners in East Jerusalem following the issuance of demolition orders reached 53%, up from 27% in the previous five years, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Although the trend of increasing demolitions since 2019 increased, with the arrival of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history this year, the rate has accelerated, reflecting the ideology of the coalition, which aims to increase Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.

However, many have been trying to secure licenses to register their homes formally for years. Still, due to the many obstacles the municipality imposed, it becomes almost impossible to build legally. On the other hand, around 1,000 Palestinians face forced eviction from their homes in cases filed against them by Israeli settler groups, many with support from the Israeli government.

Under the new right–wing government sworn in last year, Israeli officials have been fast-tracking the demolition of Israeli-designated "illegal" Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem, including in the neighborhoods of Silwan, Jabal al-Mukaber, Hizma, and Wadi Al-Joz.

On his part, Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, demanded that police go on and continue demolishing Palestinian homes even during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan – a procedure that Israel has refrained from in the past to avoid inflaming tensions.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israel destroyed 67 Palestinian buildings in East Jerusalem this year, including more than 20 homes, leaving 107 homeless.

The pretext of illegal building

The Israeli practice of demolishing homes, basic infrastructure, and sources of livelihood continues to devastate Palestinian families and communities in East Jerusalem and the 60% of the West Bank controlled by Israel, known as Area C.

Using the pretext of illegal building, Israel demolishes houses regularly, and critics charge that there is systematic abuse in the planning system to restrict development in Palestinian neighborhoods and to control and limit the number of Palestinians in Jerusalem while facilitating the expansion of Israeli settlements.

Besides, Palestinians who build without permits face the risk of home demolition and other penalties, including costly fines. As a result, at least one-third of all Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem lack an Israeli-issued building permit, potentially placing over 100,000 residents at risk of displacement.

Local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and rights groups have long pointed to a range of Israeli practices and policies in Jerusalem aimed at altering the demographic ratio in favor of Jews. Approximately 200,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, many built on private Palestinian lands, or they live in Palestinian homes taken over with the help of the state.

For Palestinians born in Jerusalem, construction permits go into a very complex bureaucratic process and are near impossible to obtain. If and when Palestinians build anyway, even if one room, they are most often slapped with a demolition order, executed either by the illegal Israeli Jerusalem municipality, or they are forced to carry out the painful task on their own.

Thus, Palestinians are left with two options: To find less expensive living spaces in neighborhoods such as Kufr Aqab, which are already highly overcrowded and unregulated, and to build without a permit.

On their part, many Palestinians have had no choice but to build their own homes without permits to meet the needs of their naturally growing families, even with the threat of demolition which made thousands of properties in occupied East Jerusalem threatened with demolition, eviction, or confiscation and has forced thousands of Palestinians from their homes and created a severe housing shortage.

The Jerusalem Municipality and the Israeli planning authorities often justify the policy by declaring an area a nature reserve or a park. Israeli watchdog B’tselem accuses Israel of implementing a policy that serves the "Jewish public only and to "cement Jewish supremacy."

Illegal demolition policy

Since Israel militarily occupied and illegally annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, its policy aimed at vacating the city of its indigenous inhabitants by creating an oppressive and coercive environment of harsh living conditions and economic circumstances, physically isolating East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank through the annexation wall, over revoking residency permits of Palestinians staying abroad and financially disadvantaging the east over the west, to demolishing houses of Palestinian residents.

House demolitions in the city frequently took place under the pretext of Palestinian residents not having acquired building permits from the Jerusalem Municipality. Only 13% of the town is zoned for Palestinian development and residential construction, most of which is already built up, with the remainder under Israeli state and settler control.

A total of 57% of Palestinian land in East Jerusalem has been appropriated to construct illegal settlements and public infrastructure. The remaining 30% is considered ‘unplanned areas’ on which construction is forbidden.

While Israel continues to build and expand its illegal colonies, Palestinian communities and towns in occupied Jerusalem continue to be denied the right to make homes and property under various allegations meant to prevent the expansion of Palestinian towns and neighborhoods.

Israel’s practices toward the Palestinians of East Jerusalem constitute war crimes under International Law and violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states: "The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its civilian population into the territory it occupies."

It also prohibits the "individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory."

Israel tries to demolish a Palestinian house, not only destroying a physical structure but wiping out the memories of home, which symbolizes the Palestinians’ entire life, and sense of identity, but Palestinians of East Jerusalem never lost hope and remain rooted in their holy city which will be the capital of their future state.