Israeli court ceases a house demolition order in East Jerusalem

On Monday 28th January, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported that lawyers representing families in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan whose homes were target for demolition succeeded in stopping the destruction of the homes but not before heavy damage was caused to structures and land in the area, according to one of the lawyers. Workers from the Israeli West Jerusalem municipality arrived in Wadi Rababa area of Silwan Monday with a goal to demolish two Palestinian home under the pretext they were built without a permit. Attorney Amir Murid said he asked the Jerusalem court to stop the demolition on ground the workers were causing heavy damage to private property in the area in order to reach the targeted homes. The workers and police left the area after presenting them with the court order, he said, but not before several structures and parts of one of the homes belonging to the Shqair family were heavily damaged. Confrontations broke out in Silwan between residents and a police force providing protection to the workers and their bulldozer when the force arrived in the area to demolish the homes. Fakhri Abu Diab, head of the Committee for the Defense of Silwan, told WAFA earlier that residents attempted to stop the demolition and confronted the Israeli force leading to the injury of several people, including women. A couple of the injured were hit in the head by rubber-coated metal bullets, he said. Police had also arrested three people, said a local rights group.