In Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli authorities forced Shadi Samarin, a resident of the Wadi al-Rababa neighborhood, to demolish his home. Samarin, who had lived in the house since 2014 with his wife and three children, was ordered by the occupation municipality to carry out the demolition under the pretext that his home was built without a permit. To avoid the exorbitant costs imposed if the authorities executed the demolition themselves, he had no choice but to dismantle his own home.

This forced self-demolition is a recurring tactic employed by Israeli authorities. Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are systematically denied building permits, leaving them trapped in a cruel cycle of either tearing down their own homes or facing heavy financial penalties if demolition is carried out by the authorities. This policy is part of a broader strategy aimed at displacing Palestinians from Jerusalem to expand Israeli settlements, in blatant violation of international laws that protect the right to housing.

According to the Jerusalem Governorate, approximately 433 demolitions have been carried out in Jerusalem since October 7, 2023. During the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, 226 homes and structures have been destroyed in Jerusalem, displacing 621 Palestinians and affecting over 40,000 others, as reported by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces raided Khirbat al-Tawil near Nablus, demolishing 15 sheds, including 11 residential units and 4 structures used for housing livestock. The occupation forces also destroyed essential infrastructure, such as water tanks, a one-kilometre road, and an electricity network, further exacerbating the suffering of local residents.

These actions are part of a broader campaign of systematic displacement, targeting Palestinians and their livelihoods while facilitating settlement expansion and the entrenchment of the occupation.