Demolitions in the Jerusalem area, May 2023: Israeli authorities demolish 46 structures; 93 Palestinians, including 48 minors, lose their homes

On Jerusalem Municipality and Ministry of Interior orders, 46 structures belonging to Palestinians were demolished throughout May 2023 in East Jerusalem and in adjacent areas lying within the al-Quds District of the Palestinian Authority.  

Thirty of the structures were homes. Nine of them were demolished by their own owners on the authorities’ instructions. Eighteen of the homes were occupied, and the demolition left 93 people, including 48 minors, homeless. Twelve houses were under construction, one of them was designed to house a young man and another newlyweds. Parts of three other houses were demolished by their owners. 

In addition to all these, 16 non-residential buildings were demolished by the authorities. Seven of the structures supported the livelihoods of seven families and nine other individuals. 

As far as the Israeli apartheid regime is concerned, the areas it controls are intended to serve the Jewish public only, and Palestinian construction in them is virtually prohibited. But Palestinians need homes too, and when they build without permits, as they have no other choice, the regime demolishes their homes. “Law enforcement” is just an excuse to sustain Jewish supremacy.  

Demolitions

On Wednesday, 3 May 2023, at around 4:00 A.M., Jerusalem Municipality personnel arrived with an Israel Police and Border Police escort, as well as a bulldozer at the East Jerusalem neighborhood of New ‘Anata (Dahiyat a-Salam)  and demolished a six-story building with 12 apartments, all but two still under construction, as well as two underground parking garages. The two fully constructed apartments housed two families, numbering 11 people in total, including four minors. The families were left homeless.    

On Thursday, 4 May 2023, at around 10:00 A.M., Jerusalem Municipality personnel arrived with a Border Police escort and a bulldozer at the neighborhood of ‘Ein al-Jawizeh located in the part of the village of al-Walajah that was annexed to Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries. The forces demolished a restaurant that supported the livelihood of a family of six. 

On Sunday, 7 May 2023, following an order issued by the Jerusalem Municipality, a resident of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-‘Amud was forced to demolish a house under construction designed to house him upon his future marriage.   

That same day, following demolition orders, two of which were issued by the Jerusalem Municipality and one by the Ministry of Interior, three families, numbering 17 people in total, including 11 minors, were forced to demolish their homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of a-Shayah. The three families were left homeless. That day, following a demolition order issued by the Ministry of Interior, another family numbering six people in total, was forced to demolish a one-room addition to its house.   

On that same day, following an order issued by the Jerusalem Municipality, a family of five, including two minors, was forced to demolish its home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabber. The family was left homeless. 

On Monday, 8 May 2023, at around 5:00 A.M., Jerusalem Municipality personnel arrived with a Border Police escort and a bulldozer in the town of Hizma, al-Quds District and destroyed a nursery that supported the livelihoods of two families numbering 12 people in total.   

On Wednesday, 10 May 2023, at around 5:00 A.M., Jerusalem Municipality personnel arrived with a Border Police escort and a bulldozer at the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabber and demolished a shed used as a livestock enclosure that supported the livelihoods of nine people. 

That same day, at around 6:00 A.M., Jerusalem Municipality personnel arrived with a Border Police escort and a bulldozer in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of a-Shayah. The forces demolished the homes of two families, numbering nine people in total, including five minors, leaving them homeless. 

That same day, around 7:00 A.M., Jerusalem Municipality personnel arrived with a Border Police escort and a bulldozer at the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. The forces demolished a car repair shop that supported the livelihood of a family of four.   

On the same day, at around 3:00 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with an Israel Police and Border escort in the town of Qalandiya and demolished a supporting wall built near the Qalandiya checkpoint, on the orders of the Land Enforcement Authority. 

On Monday, 15 May 2023, at around 6:30 A.M., Civil Administration personnel arrived with a military escort and a bulldozer in the town of al-‘Eizariyah in al-Quds District. The forces demolished, for the second time, a shack housing a family of three, including a minor, and another shack used as a livestock enclosure owned by the same family. The forces also destroyed an agricultural terrace, razed three dunams (1 dunam = 1,000 sq. meters) of land and uprooted 74 olive trees owned by a family of nine.  

On the same day, following an order issued by the Ministry of Interior, a newlywed couple was forced to demolish their home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabber. They were left homeless. '

On Tuesday, 17 May 2023, at around 6:00 A.M., Jerusalem Municipality personnel arrived with a Border Police escort and a bulldozer at the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Qadum. The forces demolished the homes of six families, numbering 32 people in total, including 18 minors, leaving them homeless. 

On Saturday, 20 May 2023, following an order issued by the Jerusalem Municipality, a family of six, including four minors, was forced to demolish its home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabber. The family was left homeless. 

On Monday, 22 May 2023, at around 7:00 A.M., Jerusalem Municipality personnel arrived with an Israel Police and Border Police escort in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and demolished three truck lots that supported the livelihoods of six families numbering 26 people in total. The demolition was carried out following an order issued by the Custodian of Absentee Property. 

On Tuesday, 23 May 2023, following an order issued by the Jerusalem Municipality, a family of five, including three minors, was forced to demolish its home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. The family was left homeless.   

On Wednesday, 24 May 2023, at around 6:00 A.M., Jerusalem Municipality personnel arrived with a Border Police escort and a bulldozer at the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Zur Baher and demolished a fence left behind after the municipality demolished structures at the site in February 2023.     

That day, at around 5:00 A.M., Jerusalem Municipality personnel arrived with Border Police officers and a bulldozer at the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabber and demolished a shed used as a livestock enclosure.  

On Saturday, 27 May 2023, following an order issued by the Jerusalem Municipality, a family of six, including one minor, was forced to demolish an awning it built over an outdoor space it uses as a kitchen in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. 

On the same day, following an order issued by the Jerusalem Municipality, a newlywed couple was forced to demolish a home they were building for themselves in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Qadum.   

On Tuesday, 30 May 2023, following an order issued by the Ministry of Interior, a family of five, including three minors, was forced to demolish a one-room addition to its home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabber. On the same day, following an order issued by the Jerusalem Municipality, another family in the neighborhood, numbering a total of six people, including three minors, was forced to demolish a fence and a paved yard near its home.