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Maintaining a Jewish majority: Jerusalem Municipality to demolish entire Palestinian neighborhood, leaving 550 people without a roof over their heads

East Jerusalem

Wadi Yasul Neighborhood. Photo by 'Amer 'Aruri, B'Tselem, 11 June 2019

The Jerusalem Municipality plans to displace all residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Yasul, close to 500 people according to OCHA figures. The residents built the neighborhood in the early 1990s on land privately owned by Palestinians, but which the city zoned as a green area to prevent construction by Palestinians. The city has done so in many other parts East Jerusalem as well. The Jerusalem Municipality issued demolition orders for the houses, and the orders were approved by the courts, who chose to ignore the reality and city policy and focus on technicalities.

Israel’s regime of apartheid and occupation is inextricably bound up in human rights violations. B’Tselem strives to end this regime, as that is the only way forward to a future in which human rights, democracy, liberty and equality are ensured to all people, both Palestinian and Israeli, living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Since the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, Israel has acted in a coordinated and deliberate manner to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip, committing genocide against its residents. In light of Israel’s actions in Gaza, the public statements made by Israeli decision-makers, and the international community’s failure to take effective action, there is a serious risk that the Israeli regime will expand the genocide to other areas under its control—first and foremost, the West Bank.
B’Tselem calls on the Israeli public and the international community to use every tool available under international law to bring an immediate end to Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.