Israeli occupation obliged Palestinian in Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan to demolish his own house on Saturday.
The Palestinian said that he had recently received an order from the Jerusalem municipality stating that his house had no Israeli-issued building permits and would need to be demolished.
He added that he had been given two weeks to carry out the demolition himself in order to avoid the exorbitant fees imposed by the municipality if its crew carried out the demolition.
Khalid abu-Tayah, member of the committee to protect Palestinian houses in Jerusalem, said that the house, owned by Qara’in family, is 65 metre square and was built seven years ago.
Palestinian apply for building permits for the Israeli occupation municipality in Jerusalem, but the procedure to deal with these applications take years and a single application costs can reach up to 300,000 shekels ($79,180).
Four out of five of Palestinians in East Jerusalem live under the poverty line, applying for these permits is nearly impossible. As a result, only 7 percent of Jerusalem building permits go to Palestinian neighbourhoods.
According to UN documentation, at least 1,093 Palestinian-owned structures were demolished in 2016, displacing 1,601 Palestinians. So far in 2017, more than 119 Palestinian-owned structures have been demolished.
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