Image: Palestinians in front of a destroyed house after Israeli forces demolished the homes of two Palestinians behind attacks in Jabal Mukaber in East Jerusalem, on Oct.6, 2015 (AFP/Thomas Coex, File)
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities on Wednesday demolished a house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, displacing six Palestinians, locals said.
Local sources told Ma’an that the residence belonged to Palestinian Ibrahim Diab and his daughter Dina.
The home was 85 square meters and home to six family members, Dina told Ma’an. She said that Israeli forces demolished the home on the grounds that it was constructed without permission from the municipality.
A spokesperson for Jerusalem’s municipality did not have immediate information regarding the demolition.
Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem have been under threat of displacement since the Israeli government enacted a policy of “Judaization” in the area since its occupation in 1967, according to Israeli rights group B’Tselem.
Over 6,000 homes were demolished immediately after the occupation began and four neighborhoods were razed entirely, according to documentation by the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. The group has documented nearly 50,000 demolitions in the occupied Palestinian territory since.
Among those facing imminent displacement is the Sub Luban family, who Israeli forces have attempted to remove from their home twice this year.
The family has lived in the home since 1956 — nearby the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem’s Old City — however a group of Jewish settlers is aiming to take over the property.
Efforts to displace the family have been led by Israeli right-wing group Ateret Cohanim, whose stated goal is to create a Jewish majority in the overwhelmingly Palestinian Old City.
Palestinian leadership has repeatedly condemned state-funded expansion of Jewish-only settlements onto Palestinian property, arguing that such a policy has been a main factor in preventing progress towards a two-state solution.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to the US last month rejected that settlements were an obstacle to
peace.