In East Jerusalem, demolitions of Palestinian houses fuel tensions

Since the Hamas attack on October 7 and the Israeli military offensive on Gaza, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem have been the target of violent reprisals.

Security Minister Itamar ben Gvir announced the purchase of 10,000 weapons for settlers while around 200 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank in a month and a half, according to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Fahkri Abu Diab has lived in this East Jerusalem house for 73 years. But last week he received a notice from the authorities that his house would be demolished. “They want to demolish our houses. They are punishing us because of the war in Gaza. Maybe in a month you can come here and we will be homeless, me, my wife, my children and my grandchildren. Why? Because we are Palestinians. The lawyer said he couldn’t do anything – we’re just waiting for the bulldozer.”

Since the Hamas attacks, he no longer dares to speak to the media about the aggression against the Palestinians, for fear of being imprisoned:

“I know they will come and punish me if they know I’m talking to the media. They took me to prison – for four days. They told me ‘you always talk to the media, you always talk to people of solidarity.’ And now, what if I speak?“, explains the septuagenarian.

These house demolitions are illegal under international humanitarian law. But Fahkri has lost all hope in the legal system. “A month or more ago, we said to ourselves that international law, the ICC, the international committee would perhaps help us. But now we know that they do nothing.”

Aviv Tatarsky, of an Israeli NGO supporting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, says attacks are currently on the rise.

“The authorities, instead of promoting calm, creating forms of communication, easing tensions, only fuel them by distributing weapons. Politicians incite violence. And no one offers Israelis and Palestinians a way to live together after the Israelis were massacred and the Palestinians were massacred in Gaza. And we’re supposed to deal with this situation one way or another.”