Israeli police demolish Palestinian home

OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: Israeli police illegally destroyed the home of a Palestinian family and arrested at least 18 people as they carried out a controversial eviction order in the sensitive east al-Quds of Sheikh Jarrah on Wednesday.

The looming eviction of other families from Sheikh Jarrah in May last year fuelled an 11-day war between Israel and armed Palestinian factions in Gaza. Before dawn, Israeli officers went to the home of the Salhiya family, threatened with eviction since 2017, when the land where their house sits was allocated for school construction. "Israel police completed the execution of an eviction order of illegal buildings built on grounds designated for a school for children with special needs from alQuds," a police statement said.

It said "members of the family living in the illegal buildings were given countless opportunities to hand over the land with consent". A police spokesman said 18 family members and supporters were arrested for "violating a court order, violent fortification and disturbing public order," but no clashes took place during the eviction. When police arrived to carry out the order on Monday, Salhiya family members went up to the building’s roof with gas canisters, threatening to set the contents and themselves alight if they were forced out of their home.

A lawyer for the Salhiya family said the demolition carried out early on Wednesday was "illegal", since the municipality had received the court’s permission to vacate the property but not destroy it.