Israeli authorities informed residents of 14 homes in the al-Bustan neighbourhood of Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, on Sunday evening that their houses were to be demolished. The authorities said the homes had been built without permits and plan to replace the area with so-called “biblical gardens.”
The Jerusalem Governorate, part of the Palestinian Authority, said in a statement that the Israeli authorities issued notices to immediately demolish the 14 homes in al-Bustan, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
The governorate described the move as “a new escalation in a systematic policy targeting the Palestinian presence in one of the most sensitive and strategic areas around Al-Aqsa.”
It added that the homes targeted for demolition shelter Palestinian families and that the action is part of an Israeli plan to turn the lands of al-Bustan into what the occupation authorities call biblical gardens, in clear violation of property and housing rights.
The governorate also warned that the decision “threatens the future of around 120 Jerusalemite residents, amid a continued policy of encroachment on lands and homes that have existed for decades, costing their owners tens of thousands of dollars in fines imposed by the Israeli municipality.”
READ: Israel High Court orders evictions of Palestinian families in occupied East Jerusalem