Brussels - Capitals: Europe and the Arabs - Agencies
With the beginning of the month of Ramadan, the pressure and suffering of the Palestinians is increasing in light of the continued bombing and displacement. The occupation forces committed new crimes against civilians and new victims fell while waiting for humanitarian aid, while the United Nations called on the Israeli authorities to stop the decision to demolish homes and forcefully displace Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem.
Dozens of citizens were martyred and injured, at dawn on Tuesday, as a result of the intense bombardment by Israeli warplanes and artillery shelling on various areas in the Gaza Strip, on the 158th day of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
According to the Palestinian News Agency "Wafa", health sources in the Gaza Strip said that 7 martyrs and more than 20 wounded were transferred to Al-Shifa Medical Complex after the occupation targeted the people at the Kuwait Junction in Gaza City, while they were waiting for aid to arrive.
A number of citizens were also injured in an Israeli bombing that targeted a house in the Saudi neighborhood, west of the city of Rafah.
Artillery shelling targeted the eastern areas of Abasan Al-Kabira and Khuza’a in Khan Yunis, resulting in the death and injury of a number of citizens.
The Israeli occupation army committed 7 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, claiming 67 martyrs and 106 injuries during the past 24 hours. Thus, the toll of the Israeli aggression, which is not final, rose to 31,112 martyrs and 72,760 injuries since last October 7, according to what the Ministry of Health reported yesterday. Monday.
On the other hand, the United Nations Human Rights Office called on Israel to immediately stop the decision to demolish homes and forcibly displace 1,550 Palestinians in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem. He said that the Israeli authorities threatened to destroy the neighborhood, in violation of international humanitarian law, with the aim of creating a park next to an illegal Israeli settlement in the heart of the city.
The office said in a statement issued yesterday, Monday, that thousands of Palestinians are at risk of demolition and forced eviction in the rest of the Silwan areas, due to Israeli planning and zoning laws and policies that are applied illegally and discriminatory against Palestinians, which support the efforts of Israeli settlers to control this strategic area surrounding Old Jerusalem.
The office explained that the number of homes threatened with demolition is estimated at about 116 Palestinian homes, after the Israeli authorities recently resumed demolition operations in the area.
Concerns about motives for demolition
The UN Human Rights Office reported that on February 14, Israeli bulldozers destroyed the home of Fakhri Abu Diab, spokesman for the Committee for the Defense of Silwan Lands and Properties, forcibly displacing 11 members of his family, including five children.

He added that Abu Diab's house, like most houses in the Al-Bustan neighborhood, lacks an Israeli building permit within an area previously designated by the Israeli authorities as a green zone, thus violating the occupation law after the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem.

The office indicated that the Palestinian community, of which Abu Diab is one of its prominent representatives, has entered into negotiations in recent years with the Jerusalem municipality to obtain alternative planning that respects the housing needs of the Palestinian population, including starting to implement alternative zoning plans at their own expense, adding that despite this In December 2023, the municipality asked the Palestinian community to approve its latest plan, according to which 80% of the neighborhood would be transformed into a “green zone” without clear guarantees for residents.
He warned that there are also fears that the demolition of the Abu Diab family home is an escalatory response to his public positions, aiming to send a clear message that Israel will continue its demolition operations regardless of any opposition.

The pace of demolition accelerated
The Human Rights Office noted that United Nations data shows that while clashes are still ongoing in Gaza, the Israeli authorities have accelerated the destruction of Palestinian homes and their forced displacement, as well as the expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem, raising concerns about the practice of collective punishment following the events of October 7. /October.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in 2023, the Israeli authorities destroyed 229 Palestinian-owned facilities, including 138 homes, displacing 635 Palestinians, a sharp increase compared to the 149 facilities demolished and 347 individuals displaced in 2022, which would be higher. Statistics since the United Nations began tracking demolitions since 2009.
The office’s data also showed that the forced displacement of Palestinians has increased since October 7, 2023 due to the demolition of homes by about 30% compared to the nine months preceding that date.

Discriminatory laws
The United Nations Human Rights Office confirmed that international humanitarian law prohibits Israel, as an occupying power, from imposing its own laws in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, and this includes using Israeli laws to expel Palestinians. He pointed out that these laws in themselves are considered discriminatory against Palestinians and clearly violate Israel's international obligations in the field of human rights.

The office reminded that, in addition to violating the right of Palestinians to adequate housing, it is prohibited to destroy homes unless necessary due to military operations, as the destruction of property violates Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. He added that unjustified destruction of property may constitute a heinous war crime.

The office urged Israel to stop implementing discriminatory local laws aimed at destroying Palestinian property and expelling Palestinians from their homes, calling on the international community to intensify its efforts to prevent the demolition of homes and the forced transfer of Palestinians from inside and outside East Jerusalem.,