UN data indicate that the Israeli occupation authorities demolished more than 2,000 Palestinian facilities in the occupied city of Jerusalem over a period of 15 years, and displaced approximately 4,200 Jerusalemites.
Updates from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories on its website indicate that the occupation authorities demolished, from the beginning of 2010 until the beginning of this year, “2,128 facilities, of which 2,091 facilities were demolished under the pretext of not being licensed.”
Data indicate that the demolition operations led to the displacement of about 4,200 Jerusalemites, and approximately 51,500 other Jerusalemites were affected.
The demolition operations were concentrated in the towns of: Al-Mukaber (359), Silwan (267), Beit Hanina (240), Al-Issawiya (188), Al-Tur (127), Sur Baher (120), Al-Walaja (103), and then the rest of the city’s neighborhoods and villages.
Among the demolished homes were 724 inhabited homes, 416 uninhabited homes, 354 agricultural facilities, and 403 livelihood facilities such as stores.
For its part, the Jerusalem Governorate said on Sunday that the occupation authorities carried out 439 demolition operations in Jerusalem since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023 until the end of 2024.
The year 2024 has been difficult for the city of Jerusalem and its people, with the continued policy of collective punishment pursued by the occupation authorities against Jerusalemites, which has escalated since the outbreak of the war on Gaza in October 2023.
Here is Jerusalem’s harvest during the year 2024, prepared by the Tel Aviv Tribune Net team
For more: pic.twitter.com/bZyDs9wCNb– Tel Aviv Tribune Net | Jerusalem (@Aljazeeraquds) January 1, 2025
According to the UN office, Israeli forces demolished 1,762 buildings owned by Palestinians, or forced their owners to demolish them, which led to the displacement of about 4,250 Palestinians, including 1,712 children, and caused damage to about 165,000 others in the West Bank during 2024.
He added that the year 2024 recorded the highest number of people who were displaced and buildings destroyed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the Office of Documentation of Demolitions began in 2009 “due to the widespread destruction of Palestinian homes and infrastructure at the hands of Israeli forces.” .
According to previous United Nations reports, “the restrictive and discriminatory planning system makes it next to impossible for Palestinians in Jerusalem to obtain building permits required by Israel.”
He pointed out that “no more than 13% of the area of East Jerusalem is allocated for Palestinian construction, but most of this area is already inhabited, and Palestinians who build their homes without obtaining permits face the risk of their demolition, in addition to other penalties, including heavy fines.”
He stated that “at least a third of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem lack building permits issued by Israel, which exposes more than 100,000 Palestinian residents of the city to the risk of displacement.”
