The Israeli authorities have issued a new raft of demolition orders to Palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem.
On Sunday, an Israeli court approved the demolition of eight Palestinian homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Semiramis. The court said the owners must destroy the homes themselves and pay fines of 49,000 shekels ($12,667) by 1 August, Ma’an News Agency reports.
The demolition orders in Semiramis were delivered just days after Israel announced that it will build 900 new homes in Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish-only colony in East Jerusalem, according to the anti-settlement group Peace Now.
In March, ahead of elections for Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu promised to expand settlements in the occupied city.
“We will continue to build in Jerusalem, we will add thousands of housing units, and in the face of all the [international] pressure, we will persist and continue to develop our eternal capital,” Netanyahu said.
Rima Awwad, a member of the Jerusalemites Campaign, a group that campaigns for Palestinian rights in the city, said Netanyahu “campaigned on a platform of de-Palestinianization of the occupied city and he is now following through on his promise.”